Time in the Country
by singerme
Summary: Lee and Amanda have been married for two years and no longer work for the Agency when they take a trip to the country with the boys. But even outside of the Agency, trouble finds them.
1. Chapter 1

**Time in the Country**

**Author's Note: ****This is set sometime in season six or thereabouts. ****That is, it would be if there had of been a season six but of course there wasn't a season six. ****But if there had of been a season six, this is my view of what might have happened or at least could have happened if there had of been a sixth season. ****Good Lord, I've watched this show so much that Amanda's got me to rambling now. ****;)**

Oh… and, I don't own these characters; I just like to spend time with them. No other profit to be had.

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Lee pulled into the parking lot and looked up proudly at the name emblazoned on a sign above the entrance of the building.

**Stetson Investigations**

The business card, he carried, identified his agency as the premier private investigation company in Washington DC. Although, that was a bit grandiose yet for the fledgling company; Lee had every intention of one day making that a true statement, in every sense of the word. They had already solved some cases that law enforcement had deemed unsolvable.

Shaking his head in wonder, he thought about what had brought this all about.

He and Amanda had been married for almost a year and their marriage was still a secret when things had started to fall apart at the Agency. Billy had been forced to retire due to his health and though Lee had been offered the now vacant position of section chief, he and Amanda, after a lot of talking, thinking and soul searching had decided it wasn't what they wanted. More importantly, it wasn't what Lee wanted.

Though he did agree to take the reins for a little while, as interim boss, he made it clear to Dr. Smyth that it was ONLY for a little while until someone else could be found to take the position. Smyth easily, perhaps too easily, agreed and Lee moved into the office that Billy had occupied for so many years.

For the next four months Lee literally felt like a caged animal, trapped in a windowless room with nothing but paperwork and headaches all day long. He now understood why Billy kept a large bottle of antacids in his drawer all the time. To make matters worse, he could no longer see Amanda as he was used to.

His move up had meant a new partner for his wife. And although he knew Francine would look out for Amanda, as Amanda would Francine, he nevertheless spent part of each day worrying about her, anytime she and Francine would leave the office to work a case.

Several times Lee had asked Smyth about his replacement and the odious man, with the cigarette holder firmly clamped in his teeth, always gave a vague answer and found something terribly important to do. Something that would take him as far from Lee's presence as he could get.

Lee had just about decided that he would be the permanent section chief, whether he liked it or not. But that notion changed the day that Amanda and Francine had come close to being killed.

He had sent them out on a routine surveillance, supposedly low risk as the man they were watching was a low level accountant with no criminal record. They were watching him in the hopes that he would lead them to someone higher up on the food chain.

But criminal record or not, he somehow discovered they were watching him and decided to end their shadowing permanently. Getting in his car, he had led them around town until he got them on a high bridge over the river. With a couple of swift maneuvers, he managed to get beside them and then tried ramming their car with his as they were going over the bridge.

It was only by Amanda's quick thinking that he'd missed. She had been driving and had seen him coming from the corner of her eye. Stomping her foot on the gas pedal, she was able to move out of the way mere seconds before he plowed into the space they had occupied. His momentum carried him through the guard rail on the side of the bridge and down to the river below.

That was the final straw. Lee could take no more. He wanted to get back into the field. He was not a paper pusher by nature and never had been. It wasn't in his nature to sit behind a desk and command others to go out and put themselves in danger, while he sat in a quiet office behind a large desk and ate antacids by the bottle.

The next time Lee saw Dr. Smyth, he literally pinned him against the wall and demanded that a replacement be found and he be allowed to go back to his job and his partner.

Smyth owlishly studied Lee for several seconds before pulling away and squaring his shoulders. "Now, now, Scarecrow." He made a show of straightening his jacket. "No need to display your caveman like tendencies. I am well aware of your wishes but I am also well aware that there is no one else to fill this position." Taking one daring step closer to the glowering agent, Smyth literally poked his finger into Lee's chest. "You are it!"

Lee lost it, grabbing the blond braggart's offending finger; he pushed it away and back, coming close to breaking it. "You Are Wrong." He leaned into Smyth. "I QUIT!"

Releasing him suddenly, Lee turned and stormed away. He knew Smyth would most likely retaliate against him for this, and he knew he should've talked to Amanda about it, before he quit. But he'd had all he could take.

Marching back to his office, he grabbed a box from the copier area, and dropped his few personal possessions into it. Then rushing upstairs, he quickly left a short note on Amanda's desk and left, before Smyth could call the guards on him.

Later, in his apartment, Lee and Amanda talked until on into the night. Although a little alarmed at his actions, she agreed wholeheartedly with his reasons and told him if he truly did want out of the Agency than she supported him in every way. That was what Lee expected and needed to hear from her.

It was near midnight when Amanda noticed the time and mentioned that she needed to go home, so she could be there in the morning for the boys.

"You should already be home." Lee remarked hugging her close to him. "And I should be there with you."

Amanda pulled back to look at him. "Are you saying what I think you are?"

Lee nodded, watching her face closely for any sign that she disagreed. He didn't find it. "I think it's time." He said, pulling her back to him. "With me no longer at the Agency, you and I won't be able to work together anyway, so there's no need to worry about what they know. And with me out of the intelligence business, it won't be as dangerous. It's going to be hard to tell your mother and the boys though."

Amanda nodded, laying her head against his chest as she thought about the changes they would soon be undergoing. "We'll get through it." She sighed.

Thinking about her words, Lee realized that was the same thing she'd said when he started his short stent with the state department. A job he detested from the beginning and only kept as long as he did, because it paid well.

And she'd said it again when, two months later, she had resigned from the Agency herself due to her being reassigned to the steno pool by Dr. Smyth. He declared her skills 'not up to snuff' as an agent. They both knew the truth behind his decision but they also knew there'd be no fighting it.

And she told him the same thing again when his uncle had died a month after that and then a month after that, when her son Jamie declared that he wanted to live with his father because he found life at home with her and her _husband_ insufferable.

And as always, Amanda had been right. Their coming clean about their secret marriage and formerly secret lives as undercover operatives had been difficult for them. Dotty was furious and hurt, the boys were as well. Phillip eventually accepted and understood their reasons. But Jamie still had a certain amount of anger over it, usually unleashed only with his brother or the occasional snipe at Lee. Amanda just prayed that what he'd shown so far was the worst of it.

They had gone through a lot of turmoil, both individually and as a couple, during that time, but through it all, they had stuck together.

And now here he was, sitting in front of their own company, financed with the money Lee's uncle had so wisely invested years ago and left to him upon his death. And it was kept busy because of the many contacts Lee and his part time investigators, Billy and Harry Thornton, had.

Lee knew there were still challenges ahead for he and Amanda but he felt confident that together, they could tackle whatever came their way.

Of course, he didn't know, on that bright early fall morning, just how soon that 'whatever' would arrive.

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Time in the Country 2**

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"Good morning, Mr. Stetson." Gabby, the red headed, blue eyed bundle of energy that served as the receptionist for Stetson Investigations, greeted Lee when he entered the building, heading for his office.

Though the young woman was actually quite attractive, she, for some odd reason, usually chose to hide that behind thick glasses, braids and out of date clothing. Mrs. Marsden sometimes had better fashion sense than Gabby. However, Gabby had a personality that wouldn't quit and could charm a bird from a tree, a wonderful trait to have as a receptionist.

"Morning, Gabby." Lee smiled at her.

"Where's the Missus?" Gabby asked, looking behind him to see if maybe Amanda was just lagging slightly behind.

"She wasn't feeling well, this morning." Lee told her, a look of concern crossing his handsome face as he thought of his wife. "But you know her; she'll shrug it off and probably be in, in a little bit."

"Good," Gabby smiled in relief. "Cause there's a Mr. Greg Hammond coming in at 10 and he wanted to see both you and the Missus when he got here."

Lee frowned at that. "Hammond?"

"In the flesh." Gabby nodded. "Wouldn't say what it was about, but it sounded awful important."

Lee shrugged. "Well, we'll see when he gets here." He started to continue on to his office then stopped. "Oh, say. Did you get a hold of the Hendrickson's?"

Gabby nodded as she flipped a page on the appointment book on her desk. "Yeah, and they are coming in… at… two o'clock. They'd a been here sooner but Mr. Hendrickson couldn't get free."

Lee nodded sadly. "Well, there's never really good a time to tell someone that you found evidence their son was murdered. That will be soon enough, I guess."

Lee thought about the Hendrickson's as he walked back to his office. They had come to Lee and Amanda on a recommendation from one of Lee's former contacts. Their son, a college dropout that had gotten involved with drugs and other unsavory things and people, was missing. The police, although they consented to open a missing person's case, offered little hope of ever finding him. Other investigators, the Hendrickson's had contacted, offered less than that. When they learned of Stetson Investigations they quickly made an appointment, simply because they had nowhere else they could go.

It was a sad case. Lee and Amanda had spent countless hours on it, before they finally found someone willing to talk. That someone confessed that he'd seen Billy Hendrickson killed over a drug deal gone bad and though he didn't know exactly where the body was, he had some ideas.

Though no longer agents, Lee and Amanda both, still had quite a few friends in the intelligence community as well as local law enforcement. Lee had called in a favor and the sites mentioned by their informant were currently being checked out quietly. Lee was pretty sure the boy would turn up in one of them and although he knew his parents would grieve, they'd at least know where their son was and what had happened to him.

And that was what Stetson Investigations excelled in, getting answers for their clients that the police and other agencies had failed to provide. In business now for just eight months, they had already solved two major cases that had stumped both the feds and the local police. But they had also brought closure to several small cases, cases like the Hendrickson's. Those cases were the most satisfying to the former agents.

Walking into his office, Lee sat his briefcase on his desk and looked at the framed picture on the corner of his desk. His family. Amanda, the boys and her mother, really had become just that to him, family. Something he had thought he'd never have or ever want. But now he couldn't imagine his life without them.

That of course didn't mean that everything was perfect. Even now, after all this time, he and the boys still had adjustments to make in their relationships with one another. Jamie, though he agreed to continue living with his mother still had his reservations about Lee. And there were times, Dotty, as much as Lee loved her, could drive him to distraction with her endless questions. But he wouldn't exchange any of that for the life he'd led before Amanda.

Thinking of that, he sure hoped she was feeling better. She woke up sick at her stomach this morning and looked a little pale, but as he was about to call a doctor, she had stilled his hand and avowed she would be fine. He had only agreed to let it go, when she promised to call the doctor herself, if she wasn't feeling better in an hour.

Shaking his head at her stubbornness, he unlocked his desk drawer and pulled out a folder and went to work. Two hours later, he finally closed the file and replaced it in his drawer; certain he had done all he could on it for the time being. Looking at the clock, he reached for the phone to call Amanda when she appeared in the doorway. "Hey, I was just about to call you." He said as he rose from his desk and stepped over, pulling her into his arms. "How are you feeling?"

"Oh, I'm fine, Lee." Amanda smiled. "Must've been something I ate last night. Gabby said we have someone coming in." She had quickly changed the subject because she hated for Lee to worry about her. Besides, after her small bout with nausea she really did feel a little better.

Lee nodded, as he gave his wife a quick kiss. "Yeah, he should be here anytime now. I'm glad you got here in time to sit in with us."

Just then a knock was heard at the door. Amanda pulled out of Lee's arms and stepped over to open it, letting a slightly paunchy, balding man with thick glasses in. His high reedy voice matched his exterior.

"Mr. and Mrs. Stetson?" He said as he extended his hand to both of them.

"Uh, yes sir." Lee spoke up. "How can we help you?"

The man stepped over to Lee's desk and opened his briefcase, pulling out a folder. "It is actually I that is here to help you." He smiled genially. "I have come to award your second place prize in the Arlington Bugle's name that pie contest."

Lee glanced at Amanda who looked as puzzled as he was then turned a suspicious eye on the short, round little man. "Name that pie contest?"

"Yes, Sir." Hammond said proudly. "One of you, I assume it is you, Mrs. Stetson, named all but one of the pies correctly based upon the ingredients alone. That is quite a feat and you should be very proud of yourself. And I just know you will enjoy your prize of an all-expense paid vacation to Richards' Ranch in Talihina, Oklahoma."

TBC

**In case you're wondering, there really is a town called Talihina, Oklahoma. It's very small but it but it's very nice. And, yes, I've been there. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Time in the Country 3**

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Lee and Amanda were stymied as to how they'd won a contest that Amanda was positive she hadn't entered. "Um, you said **_I_** entered this contest?" She asked.

"Well, I assume it was you." Hammond answered, as he reached once again into his briefcase and pulled out another small folder, opening it up and looking inside. "The handwriting is too feminine to be a man's, but then again…" He looked askance at Lee who stiffened up at his scrutiny.

"May I see that?" Amanda asked.

"Certainly," Hammond handed her the folder.

Amanda flipped it open and looked at the neat handwritten answers on the page and instantly recognized her mother's handwriting. "It was my mother." She smiled at Lee. "See? It's her handwriting." She started to hand the folder back to Hammond until she saw the entrant's name on the entry form. _**Mr. and Mrs. Lee Stetson.**_

Looking again at the handwriting, she was certain it was her mother's but couldn't figure out why she put their name on it.

When she finally handed the folder back to Hammond, she shrugged, uncertain as to what to do. Their names were on the form, but she was certain her mother was the one that had filled it out. "Mr. Hammond, I'm not sure what to do here. I know our names are on there, but I could swear that's my mother's handwriting. By all rights, that trip is hers."

"Well," Hammond sighed. "Perhaps that is something you can work out with her. My job is simply to deliver your prize and congratulate you. So," he handed the first folder to Lee, "here is your prize, and I give you my sincere congratulations. I hope you or your mother's trip is fun and exciting."

Lee had barely taken the folder from the man before he had snapped his briefcase closed and turned towards the door. "Good day." He added as a parting shot, before disappearing out of the door.

Lee looked at the folder in his hand and then up at Amanda. "When we go home, we're really going to have to talk to your mother."

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"Lee, darling, I don't understand what the problem is." Dotty gave her son-in-law an exasperated look. "Yes, I entered the contest and yes I put your names on it. Of course, I did that hoping to win the grand prize of a trip for 5 to Disney land. Not a trip for four to Tali… Tali…"

"Hina, Mother." Amanda finished for her. "Talihina. According to the Atlas it's a small town close to the Texas, Oklahoma border near the Winding Stairs Mountains."

"Mountains? In Oklahoma?" Dotty shook her head. "Well, anyway, no matter where it is, it's not important. The important thing is; I won. Or at least I won for you. Now you two and the boys can spend some quality time together without work or school or anything else to get in your way. And that's really what I wanted most."

Lee shook his head with a sigh. "Dotty," he went over to her and pulled her into a hug. "I know you were only thinking of us and I appreciate that more than you know. But right now is just not the time for us to take off. I mean, we have several very active cases and…" He stopped when a thought came to him.

"Hey, I have an idea. Why don't you and Amanda and the boys take the trip while I stay here and sort of, man the fort, so to speak? I mean, you did win the contest, Dotty, no matter whose name you put on the form, so it's only right that you get to go on the trip." Lee was positive he'd solved the problem, although the thought of Amanda going anywhere without him, bothered him a great deal.

"Now, wait a minute, Stetson." Amanda started to protest but her mother waved her off.

'Un huh," Dotty shook her head as she pulled away from the tall man who'd stolen her daughter's heart and, truth be told, hers as well. "That trip is for next week and I already have plans for then. Captain Curt and I are planning a rendezvous out of town and I refuse to miss it. Besides, I wanted this trip for you two. Do you realize that since you've been married, the only real time you've had together has been the occasional weekend when you could squeeze it in. The both of you need to spend time with the boys as a family. You need to bond."

"But, Mother." Amanda shook her head. "School is already in session now. We'd have to pull the boys out for a week and you know how hard it is for them to have to make up their work once they get behind."

"Oh, come on, Amanda." Dotty looked reprovingly at her daughter. "Phillip and Jamie are very bright boys and I have no doubt they can handle being away from school for a week. But I also have no doubt that if you don't do this, school work will be the least of your worries. Jamie still hasn't completely forgiven you, you know."

Dotty turned pleading eyes to Lee and Amanda both. "Now look, you both have made a lot of strides in the right directions since you came out and told us all the truth and the boys are closer to accepting all of this now, more than they have ever been. But they're not there yet. Don't you think you owe it to them and yourselves to take this time and really come together as a family? A whole family?"

Lee ducked his head, knowing Dotty was right and understanding just how much she cared about them in doing this. Looking over at Amanda, he saw the same thing in her eyes. "Alright." He sighed as kissed Dotty on the cheek and pulled Amanda into a hug. "I guess next week we're going to be spending some time in the country."

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**Time in the Country 4**

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The Stetson household was up early Monday morning. With Lee, Amanda and the boys rushing around the house trying to get dressed and ready to go. Amanda had overseen the packing of their suitcases over the last two days, so in theory, all they had to do was get up, get dressed and eat the breakfast Dotty had cooked for them, before taking off for the airport.

But as usual, things weren't quite going according to plan. The boys were bickering, Lee was in search of his Ace comb with one missing tooth and Amanda was sick again. Of course she didn't say a word about it. Lee was still not sure about this trip and she didn't want it canceled. She agreed with her mother that they needed this.

She wanted her family to come together completely. Although the boys had, for the most part, seemed to accept Lee, there always seemed to be a small undercurrent of anger, beneath their civility, just waiting to surface. Anger over her and Lee not telling them everything from the beginning.

But she had a feeling if they could all go somewhere alone, as a family, and spend time together without anyone and anything to interrupt, they just might get everything out in the open and finally bring to an end any issues that still remained.

Though it was a huge effort on all of their parts, Lee, Amanda and two still squabbling teenagers, finally pulled away from their house and headed to the airport, barely making it in time. Hammond had made arrangements for their plane travel so at least they had no concerns in that area.

As they settled into their plane seats, Amanda finally relaxed and smiled over at Lee. "We're going to have fun, Lee." She reassured him. "I promise."

Lee reached over and kissed at her. "I'm happy already." Although, somewhere, deep inside, he was less sure of that than his words and expression relayed.

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They touched down in a tiny airfield just outside of Talihina, Oklahoma. As they got off the plane, Amanda looked around at the mountainous terrain a little amazed. "I always thought Oklahoma was flat and dusty." She remarked.

"Parts of it are." An older, gray haired man with a square jaw and a linebacker's build, walked up to them with an extended hand. "My names Jess Richards." He smiled at them. "I'm your host and owner of the ranch you'll be staying on."

Both Lee and Amanda shook hands with him as they continued to take in their surroundings. "It sure is pretty here." Amanda told him. "I can't get over how many hills and trees there are."

"Yep, it is pretty here." Jess agreed. "As a matter of fact this is the prettiest time of year with the leaves changing color and all. Hope you all brought some jackets. Evenings can get a might cool."

"We did." Amanda answered, proud of her forethought.

"Good." Jess smiled genially at her. "Let's go then, shall we?"

Helping Lee with the bags, Jess led them out into the parking lot and to an old, oxidized white, extended cab Ford F250 pickup. "Ox here, ain't the prettiest truck around," Jess fondly patted the vehicles flank as he placed their bags into the back, "but he's dependable and since he's four wheel drive, he'll get me anywhere, anytime I wanna go."

"Looks like a Cadillac to us." Lee grinned. "Beats walking at any rate."

"That it does, Mr. Stetson." Jess nodded in agreement.

With the boys in the back seat and Lee and Amanda in front, Jess threw the cantankerous old truck into gear and lurched out of the parking lot out onto the two lane blacktop in front of it.

The visitors said very little as they drove. They were fairly awestruck at the scenery they were passing through. Roads that seemed to go on forever through deep woods, up one hill and down the other in a seemingly endless ribbon that acerbated Amanda's nausea though she kept quiet about it. She wanted nothing to ruin this weekend. Even the boys had put their squabbling aside for a while as they too watched the surrounding countryside.

When Jess finally pulled off the road onto a dirt and gravel drive, he drove just a little ways before coming to a short stop at the top. "We're on my property now." He grinned. "I've got three complete sections of land here, eighteen hundred and sixty acres. Although this place is called a ranch, I do more than that. "

He pointed to the side. "Over there I have a grove of evergreens that I harvest every year for Christmas trees. I've got several crop fields and two hay fields as well as some of the best Angus beef there is. And of course I take in people from time to time who want to spend time away from the big city and get back to nature. Way things are now a days, you have to have more than one thing going in order to stay in business. I'm just lucky I got land good and plenty enough to do that."

"It sure is a pretty place." Amanda smiled over at him, as she looked around. "We're awful glad we were able to come."

"Me too, little lady." Jess returned the smile. "And I plan on making your stay memorable."

Though he said nothing, the way Jess said that, worried Lee. His earlier feelings of something not quite right resurfaced. But he kept his misgivings to himself as he looked over at the smile on Amanda's face and realized the boys seemed to be enjoying themselves as well, so far.

When they arrived at the ranch house, Jess parked in front of the two story Victorian house with a large porch which wrapped around to the side. "House ain't new." Jess said as he grabbed their bags from the back of the truck and led them inside. "But the roof don't leak and it's warm in the winter. Don't figure I could ask much more."

Once inside the house, the family looked around in pleasure at their surroundings. The central hall they entered into was spacious with a large staircase in the center leading upstairs and two doors on each side leading into the great room and dining room on the right and the kitchen, pantry, laundry and guest bathroom on the left.

Amanda was surprised at how clean and neat the place was. She somehow expected much less from a bachelor rancher.

Jess must have noticed the expression on her face and chuckled. "Expected the place to be full of dust and coon dogs, didn't ya?"

"Well, uh…" Amanda didn't want to admit it, but she did.

"It's alright." Jess waved a hand. "It would be like that, if it weren't for Mrs. Jenkins. She's a widow, lives here in a guest house and cleans up for me. She was up at the crack of dawn yesterday and worked harder than normal to make this place shine. Said she wanted my guests to stay in a house not a pig sty."

Lee laughed at that and finally let himself relax a little. Looking at his family, he let go of the little warning signals that had been plaguing him and reached out an arm, pulling Amanda to him. "Well, I think this place is fine, Jess." He grinned at his host. "And I, for one, am looking forward to a little time in the country."

"I sure hope so, Mr. Stetson." Jess smiled toothily. "I surely do hope so."

Right then, just as he said that, a chill ran down both Lee and Amanda's spines and both of them looked at the other with narrowed eyes.

Something was off and they both knew it.

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

**Time in the Country 5**

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Despite the misgivings that now both, Lee and Amanda, shared. They hid their concerns for the time being and followed Jess upstairs with the boys, as he showed them their rooms.

The boys were each given a room of their own and though sparsely furnished with a single twin bed and chest and small TV in the corner, the rooms were comfortable and the boys were satisfied with them. Neither one of them planned on spending much time indoors when they'd seen the horses outside and Jess promised to teach them how to ride.

The corner room that Lee and Amanda had been given was bright and airy with an old fashioned brass bed in its center, covered with a soft, multicolored quilt. Next to the bed on each side were small square nightstands with a single lamp and across from the bed was a large dresser with an old fashioned oval mirror above it which reflected the sunlight back into the room, making it even brighter.

The four eight-paned windows looked over a large field on the left and a good sized pond on the right. The floral wallpaper was in muted pastel colors that made the room look a little larger than it was but didn't take away from the simple beauty of it or the view outside.

"Oh, this room is wonderful." Amanda exclaimed as they entered and Lee and Jess sat their luggage down.

"Glad ya like it." Jess smiled. "I don't have a lot of expensive furniture and such but I always try to make sure things are comfortable."

"Well, I'm sure we will be." Amanda returned the smile.

"Good," Jess reached out a hand to Lee. "Then I'll leave you all to get settled in and I'll see ya downstairs later. Supper's at six but if you need anything before then, I'll be outside in the barn. I have a cow down and I need to keep an eye on her."

"Alright, Jess." Lee nodded as the rancher left. "We'll see you later."

After Jess left, Lee looked over at Amanda and let out the breath he'd been holding. That feeling of something off was now stronger than ever.

"Lee…?"

But Lee held up his hand and placed a finger on his lips. Stepping over to his suitcase, he opened it and pulled out a small compact device which he opened and held aloft as he started walking around the bedroom and the adjacent bathroom.

"Sweetheart, I'm going to give you the left hand side of the dresser, like we have it at home." Amanda spoke aloud, for the benefit of whoever might be listening, should Lee find a bug in the room.

"That's fine, honey." Lee returned. "Just make sure my tee-shirts are in the top drawer."

Amanda started to reply when Lee finally closed the little compact detector and put it back in his suitcase. "The rooms clean." He said quietly. "But just in case." Swiftly crossing to the door, he whipped it open to find an empty hallway beyond it. Shrugging, he closed the door and went back to the bed, sitting down on the side. "I guess we really do need a vacation when we're jumping at shadows."

Amanda sat down beside him, and laid her head on his shoulder. "I guess so. But it sure did feel off down there. You know how we used to get before something went wrong on one of our cases?"

Lee wrapped his arms around Amanda and kissed her. "I know. But other than that feeling, nothing seems amiss."

"Not yet anyway." Amanda sighed, for some reason feeling like she wanted to cry.

Lee understood but he was determined not to let her get down. "Hey." With a finger he brought her chin to look him in the eyes. "This is supposed to be a fun vacation, remember? Now, I agree that things felt a little off down stairs but I think it's just because we've haven't ever done this before as a family. I mean, you and I have taken a weekend here or there but we've never gone anywhere with the boys."

Amanda nodded, trying to not to just break down and sob. Finally, she pulled away from Lee and sat up. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I don't why I just felt so scared all of a sudden. I mean, I know we're safe and we're together and the boys are already having a great time and well, we… well, we will have a good time and there's nothing to be frightened of but I just got scared, well not really scared you know, just well a little frightened. I don't know why though. I mean you're here and I'm always safe with you and I… I'm sorry."

Lee laughed out loud and hugged her tighter, glad to hear her ramble. "Come on." He stood and tugged at her hand. "Let's get these suitcases unpacked and then go exploring."

Willingly, Amanda nodded her head and got up. "Sounds like fun."

Later that afternoon, Lee, Amanda and the boys took a small self-guided tour around Jess Richards' ranch. Aside from the barn and the main house, there were a couple of small tool sheds and a what looked like a smoke shed as well as a long low building, that upon inspection, seemed to be a bunk house. It was a nice and neat operation, except for one thing.

Though the place was big and multilayered, Lee noticed a distinct lack of people around to work it. Jess was there of course, working in the barn as he'd said he would be. And Lee saw a man on a tractor, diligently working the hay field that was visible from his and Amanda's bedroom window, but no one else.

"Lee?" Amanda looked around them as they walked back towards the house, after having looked over the horses in the corral. The boys had ran ahead to get cleaned up for supper. "Where is everybody?"

Lee shook his head. "I don't know. You'd think a place as big as this would have a whole lot of people working it, especially on a weekday."

"Yeah." Amanda agreed taking another look around as the niggling little feeling of something off, once again assailed her.

TBC

**Author's note... Here in the boondocks of Oklahoma, any meal served in the evening is called supper and lunch is called dinner. So, when they say they're having supper, you'll know what I mean.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Time in the Country 6**

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Dinner was simple but delicious. Thick steaks grilled to perfection, homemade mashed potatoes with thick beef gravy, buttermilk biscuits with melting real butter and green beans cooked with just a touch of bacon. Desert was apple pie with homemade vanilla ice cream. Mrs. Jenkins, who not only cleaned wonderfully, had also proven to be a fantastic cook.

Lee sighed as he sat back, so full he wasn't sure he could move. Looking around the table, he saw their host and the boys were in the same shape. Amanda hadn't eaten nearly as much but then she was always a light eater. "Mrs. Jenkins," he smiled up at her as she poured him a cup of coffee. "I thought Amanda here was the only good cook there was. But that was a wonderful meal."

Amanda grinned at her husband's compliment as she nodded in agreement. "It sure was. I'm going to have get some of your recipes."

"Aw," Mrs. Jenkins, all two hundred pounds of her, grinned and waved off the compliment even as she basked in it. "That wasn't all that much, just simple home cooking. Mr. Jenkins, God rest his soul, he was a big man and he had a big appetite and I just cooked for you all what him and my boys always liked." She pushed back a strand of softly graying brown hair and adjusted her glasses before looking around the table. "Can I get anyone anything else?"

"Can I have some more pie?" Phillip asked eagerly.

"Phillip," Amanda gently admonished him. "You've already had two pieces."

"I know, Mom." He grinned. "But I'm a growing boy."

Mrs. Jenkins chuckled as she got to her feet and stepped over to the sideboard and cut another slice of pie. "He's just like my boy Roger." She said, with a hint of sadness in her voice.

While Phillip ate his pie and Amanda and Mrs. Jenkins discussed recipes, Lee looked at the other two occupants of the table. Jamie had, for the most part, been a little quiet during their meal, barely acknowledging his older brother calling him his old familiar nickname, worm brain.

Jess had been a little more willing to participate in conversation, but Lee could tell there was something on the older man's mind. Several times, Jess had looked out of the dining room window as though he expected to see something out there, even though by then it was full on dark outside.

Neither old man nor young boy looked as though they were enjoying themselves very much and it bothered Lee that he could do nothing about either situation. At least not immediately and not both of them. Without knowing what bothered Jess, Lee knew he'd not be able to help. But it was his hope, that here, he could at least bridge the gap between he and Jamie and finally have the relationship that both he and Amanda wanted between stepdad and stepson.

As Lee silently observed the others, he noticed a flash of light at the window. Apparently Jess had noticed as well as he immediately got to his feet. "Mrs. Jenkins," he briefly settled a beefy hand on her shoulder. "That was a great meal as always. Now, if you all will excuse me, I'm gonna go check on that cow out in the barn."

Mrs. Jenkins looked out the window with a shake of her head. "This place is as busy as Dodge City on a Saturday night. Only we ain't got no Long Branch or Delmonico's."

Jess chuckled as he grabbed a jacket and headed for the door.

"Can I go with you?" Jamie spoke up for the first time looking at the rancher.

"Uh, no." Jess answered quickly. "I, uh, well, it won't take me long and it's cold outside. I'll be right back." Hurriedly he left the room and they could hear the back door slam as he hastily left the house.

Lee and Amanda exchanged concerned glances. His odd behavior had not escaped their notice and they both now knew that little feeling of something being off was right on the mark.

"Well," Amanda exclaimed as she got to her feet. "Mrs. Jenkins, why don't I help you to get these dishes cleared and washed? Boys, if you're done, why don't you go on up and get washed up and ready for bed?"

While Amanda kept Mrs. Jenkins busy and the boys trudged upstairs, Lee took the opportunity; Amanda had afforded him, and slipped out of the house. Something was going on here and if he was right, it could put him and his family in the middle of danger.

"You heard my answer!" Lee could hear Jess Richards' gravely voice raised in anger as he crept closer to the barn. "You comin' around here and threatening me and mine ain't gonna help nothing."

Silently, Lee stole up to the barn door and cautiously looked in. Richards was standing to the left of the entry way, his arms crossed rigidly in front of him glaring at another man who Lee could only see in profile. Short, stocky with greasy blond hair and an expensive suit, he did not look like he belonged anywhere near a ranch.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that." The stranger said in mock tones of sadness. "I really am, because you know if I take that answer back to Mr. Stone, he's not going to be happy." He took a step closer to Jess. "You've already lost most of your workers and your new truck and that hay field, not to mention not being able to get into your bank account. How much more can you stand to lose?"

"Get out!" Jess demanded. "Get out of here, right now. Go tell your boss what I said and don't come back."

For several seconds the two men stood toe to toe studying each other and Lee was contemplating whether he should leave or get involved, when he suddenly felt a hand on his arm. Whirling around, he discovered Jamie at his side.

"Lee…"

Lee didn't give the boy a chance to say anything more. Clamping a hand over his mouth, he literally picked him and carried him back and around the side of the barn out of sight of the door.

Inside the barn, Jess had heard the boy's voice but his expression remained neutral and he gave no indication of it to the vile man in front of him. "I said get out." He repeated in a low voice.

With a shake of his head, the blond headed hoodlum turned for the door. "Mr. Stone is going to be awful upset." He warned.

"Go!" Jess demanded again. His tone gave no room for argument.

With one more shake of his head, the man turned and left the barn, climbing into a Lincoln and driving away.

Jess stood stock still for several moments before finally quitting the interior of the barn and making his way around the side where he found Lee and Jamie. "Guess we'd better talk." He sighed.

Lee looked down at Jamie and nodded. "I guess we'd better."

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

**Time in the Country 7**

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Amanda, Phillip and Jamie sat quietly on the couch in Jess' living room as Lee paced back and forth in front of them, pausing occasionally to cast a glare in their host's direction. "So, you allowed me and my family to come here, knowing we could very well be in danger? What were you thinking, man? At the very least you should have told us when we landed at that rinky dink airport, of yours." Lee snapped at him.

Jess had, for the last half hour, told Lee and Amanda and the boys, who insisted on being included, about a man named Lou Stone. Originally from Kansas, Stone had moved into the sleepy rural community of Talihina and bought a place not far from town.

No one knew anything about him and some, like Jess, didn't even know he was there, at first. Stone liked it that way. Keeping to himself and keeping as low a profile as he could, he aroused very little suspicion among the farmers and ranchers around the town. If his clothes and cars were a bit flashy and his friends a bit more up town then was normal for a place like Talihina, his neighbors had the good manners to keep their opinions on it to themselves.

Jess supposed he would never have had cause to interact with the man if he hadn't of showed up on his doorstep a couple of weeks prior wanting to buy his land for way more than it was worth..

But Jess had turned him down flat, wanting nothing to do with it. That was when things began to happen.

The first night, a hay field burned. In the next couple of days, all, except a couple of Jess's employees stopped coming to work. Then the brand new Ford F350 he'd bought was stolen and burned. And somehow, someone was able to tap into the bank's computers and place a hold on Jess' accounts, preventing him from getting to his money. The bank was working on the problem but so far, they hadn't been able to fix it.

The man that was there this night came to warn of worse things to come should he continue to refuse.

"Did you contact the police?" Lee asked when Jess paused. "At least turn in a report on him for harassment?"

Jess nodded. "I called em but they told me unless I had some proof he was doing it, they couldn't help me. They took a report on the truck and the hay field but there wasn't nothing they could do."

"What about your employees?" Amanda asked. "Did they at least talk to them?"

Jess shrugged. "Sherriff said he called a couple of em but they just said they didn't want to work here no more. They refused to say anything else. The police can't help me. Stone ain't stupid enough to leave no trail back to him. I don't have too many options here." He gave Lee a meaningful look.

Jess took a deep breath, warily and ruefully watching the younger man, understanding his anger, and yet unable to absolve it. "Mr. Stetson, believe me. When I put in a bid to that newspaper as one of the prizes, none of this stuff was going on. I didn't even know that Lou Stone existed until it was too late to cancel. I was just hoping that your presence here would keep him at bay for a week and give me some time to figure things out."

"Mr. Richards." Amanda sat forward, kindness and sympathy temporarily replacing the shock and anger she had felt when Lee had told her what he'd over heard. "I know you wouldn't purposely put us or anyone else in harm's way. But you have to understand how we feel."

"I do, Ma'am." Jess stood up and walked over to the fireplace, leaning heavily on the mantle. "I know you don't want your boys or yourselves hurt and I don't either. But I'm clean out of options. When I found out that the couple that won had an investigations company, I figured you might have some idea what I could do. I had no intentions of you all actually getting involved any more than just giving me some advice. I still don't. And I promise, if you all want to leave, then I'll take you to the airport and buy your tickets myself. Of course the next plane out of there won't leave for a couple of days but I'll make sure to get your tickets for it."

"With what?" Lee asked, sounding only a little less grumpy. "From what you just told us, Lou Stone has got your bank account tied up along with your employees and everything else."

"I don't know." Jess's voice took on a little of Lee's grumpiness. "But if I have to borrow against the house, I'll put you on a plane back home if that's what you want."

Lee looked over at Amanda, knowing what she was thinking without asking, Lee shook his head. "No, Jess. No. At least not right now. But we do need to get Amanda and the boys out of here. Does Talihina have a hotel or someplace they can stay till we can put them on that plane?"

"NO!" Amanda and both boys spoke up in unison. "Lee, I am your partner, remember?" Amanda moved to his side. "I'm not going anywhere without you."

"Amanda." Lee gave her his 'stay in the car' look. "You are my wife and I have no wish to see you or the boys hurt. Now, we don't know what this Stone may try next and it's not safe for you to be here."

"Lee?"

Lee looked over at his youngest step-son. "Yes, Jamie?"

"Would mom and us be any safer alone? I mean, if this Mr. Stone finds out you're helping Mr. Richards, wouldn't he try to hurt mom or one of us to get back at you?"

"Yeah, Lee." Phillip chimed in, backing his little brother. "Jamie's right. Wouldn't we be safer with you, than without you?"

For several long moments, Lee stood and looked at the two boys he'd grown to love over the years. Although, they still had their moments, and there were still some things to work on, he realized they were now beginning to trust him, something he'd wanted for so long. "Yeah," he let the air out of his lungs and stepped forward, awkwardly pulling all three members of his family to him. "I guess you are."

The boys tolerated the hug for a moment but finally pulled away, glancing at each other and Lee in some embarrassment.

Amanda grinned, euphorically happy that her family was finally making a step to come together. Pulling out of Lee's arms, she stepped over to Jess and wrapped her arm around his. "Mr. Richards, how about if Lee and I became your partners?"

"Hey," Phillip protested. "We're all in this together, remember, Mom?"

Lee echoed Amanda's grin and nodded. "Yeah, Amanda. Together."

"Yeah." Jamie jumped.

Amanda shook her head and laughed. "Yeah."

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

**Time in the Country 8**

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Amanda woke the next morning, blessedly free of the nausea that had been assailing her, the last couple of weeks and for once feeling rested. She supposed it was the extra sleep she'd gotten the night before.

After sending the boys to bed, Lee, Amanda and Jess sat down to discuss the situation and try to determine a course of action. But Amanda had been so tired she couldn't keep her eyes open.

Finally, seeing the exhaustion on his wife's face, Lee had called a stop and took her upstairs to bed. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow. She had no idea if Lee stayed with her or went back down, knowing him, she suspected the latter. At any rate, he wasn't there now and she missed him.

Pulling herself from bed, she had only taken a couple of steps towards the bathroom when she felt dizzy. For several seconds she wavered on her feet, until she felt two strong arms wrap themselves around her and help her back to the bed.

"Are you alright?" Lee's worry was showing on his face.

Smiling, Amanda reached over and kissed him. "I am now. I missed you when I woke and you weren't there."

Lee shook his head with a grin as he returned the kiss with interest. "I know, it's a first, right? That I get up before you? But I wanted to look over the ranch with Jess and see what his weak spots were here. If we can identify those and shore them up, then we can go on the offensive with this Lou Stone."

"How bad off are we?" Amanda asked, knowing by Lee's expression it wasn't good.

"Well," Lee sighed. "Let's just say we have a lot of holes to plug. Jess doesn't want an armed camp out here and I understand that, but right now its way too easy for anyone to get onto this place. And since Stone has scared off most of Jess's employees, he could do just about anything he wanted with not too much standing in his way."

"Well then," Amanda hoisted herself back to her feet, trying not to show just how unsteady she still was. "I guess we'd better get to work."

Lee grabbed a hold of her arm though and shook his head. "I don't think so, Amanda. You still look tired and you're not really steady on your feet right now."

"Lee," Amanda shook her dizziness and Lee off. "I'm alright. A good breakfast and a cup of coffee and I'll be just fine."

"Well, that we can provide." Lee told her. "Mrs. Jenkins has been cooking and breakfast is all ready for you. The boys and I have eaten and Jess has got them out in the barn teaching about horses and such."

Amanda smiled at that. It had been an uphill battle to get Lee to eat breakfast and it was still a relatively new thing to him. But she was proud of her accomplishment there. And she was glad the boys were enjoying themselves, despite whatever danger Lou Stone might pose to them.

Of course, if her mother were home, she'd send them to her and stay with Lee to work this out. But with her mother out and her Aunt Lillian on a cruise, and Joe overseas, she had no option to keep them with her and pray that she and Lee would be able to keep them out of harm's way.

"I'll tell you what, Scarecrow." She reached up and kissed him once again. "You give me half an hour to get a shower and brush my teeth and I'll meet you downstairs."

"For two cents, I'd join you in that shower." Lee arched a brow at her wickedly.

"Yeah, well, right now I'm broke." She chuckled. "Besides if we did that, we might not leave this room."

Lee grinned. "Would that be so bad?"

"Go on." Amanda tried to look stern but didn't quite make it. "I'll see you downstairs in just a little bit."

Reluctantly, Lee nodded and turned for the door. "Half an hour?"

"Or longer, if you don't go away." Amanda waved him off with a grin.

Twenty minutes later, Amanda appeared in the kitchen, freshly showered and smelling of vanilla. She was dressed in an old pair of jeans, tennis shoes and her favorite red plaid shirt and Lee thought she'd never looked prettier. Getting up from the table, he ushered her to a seat and held the chair for her.

"Why, thank you, Mr. Stetson." She grinned at him. "I'm going to have to come to the table late more often, if it means getting this type of service."

Lee didn't have a chance to reply as Mrs. Jenkins came bustling in and placed a heaping plate of eggs, ham and biscuits in front of her with a side bowl of white pan gravy and a large glass of milk. "There ya go, Mrs. Stetson." She smiled warmly. "Exactly what you need to start your day, a good breakfast."

Amanda swallowed hard as she looked at all of the food. "Well, it certainly is a big breakfast."

Mrs. Jenkins nodded knowingly. "Yep, but like I said, you need it. You're too skinny."

Amanda looked at down at herself then back at Mrs. Jenkins. "I am?"

"Sure are." The older woman chuckled. "Especially now."

Amanda started to ask her what she meant by that when the back door banged open and Jamie and Phillip came running in. "Lee, that man from last night is back and he's got another man with him." Phillip gasped.

Lee and Amanda exchanged glances and Lee jumped to his feet. "You three stay here." He called over his shoulder as he ran out.

Amanda, of course, had no plans of following orders, but as she got to her feet, her nausea hit her again and she instead rushed into the guest bathroom.

The boys spared a glance in their mother's direction then turned and started to follow Lee. But Mrs. Jenkins firmly planted herself in front of the door. "Uh, huh, boys. Mr. Stetson said you were to stay here. So stay you will."

Both boys groaned but one look at the considerable size of the normally genial woman in front of them, they knew they'd not get past her. "Come on," Phillip sighed. "Let's go up to our rooms."

When Lee reached the barn, he slowed his pace and walked in casually, wishing like crazy he had his gun and still had his federal badge. However, since he didn't, he decided to bluff his way and see what happened.

"Hey, Jess." He called in his best Ricky Lee Jackson voice as he entered the barn to see two men standing and talking to Jess. "I thought… oh. Hello." He smiled as though he had no idea who the men were. "How ya all doing?"

"Who are you?" The man from last night asked with a glare.

"My name's Ricky." He put out a hand to shake but wasn't surprised when it wasn't taken. "I'm Jess's newest hired hand."

The other man, tall, dark headed with a pocked marked face and insolent sneer, gave Jess a reproving look. "You hired him?"

Jess swallowed hard and nodded. "I had to have me some help. He's a good worker."

The man that gave him a look of contempt before returning his attentions to Jack. "We warned you, Richards. You need to learn to listen to us. Mr. Stone is gonna be real mad." He glanced at the man with him. "Let's go Rink."

Lee said nothing as the two men turned and left the barn, climbing back into the Lincoln and driving off. After they left he looked over at Jess. "They warned you?"

Jess nodded with a fearful look at Lee. "Yeah. They did. Guess you all are in deeper than you thought."

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

**Time in the Country 9**

**Author's Note: Thank you all for such kind reviews. It really makes writing that much more fun. And JennieJoy72, not to worry. Ricky and Lee both have had time to win her over. I think she'll like him just fine.**

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When Amanda came out of the rest room, Lee was still down by the barn with Jess. The boys were no where to be seen. "Mrs. Jenkins?" She swallowed hard, afraid the boys had gone after Lee. "Where's Phillip and Jamie?"

"Upstairs." The portly housekeeper answered. "I wouldn't let em go out after your husband, so they went to their room. And don't worry about them climbing out the window, there's no trellis or nothing outside, so they couldn't get down if they tried."

Amanda looked at the housekeeper a little surprised. "How'd you…?"

"Same way I know about your little secret." She smiled broadly. "I bore and raised five boys. I know."

Amanda blushed and looked down. "Lee doesn't know. No one does, except me and now you." Suddenly her head came up. "You wouldn't…?"

"Oh, Heavens, of course not." The older woman patted Amanda's arm comfortingly. "That's your job and privilege. I'm just here to cook and clean and perhaps lend an ear if you need to talk."

"Thank you." Amanda said gratefully just as the back door opened and Lee and Jess came in. "Lee." She breathed, relieved to see him as she rushed into his arms. "What happened?"

Lee hugged her tightly for a moment before releasing her and heading for the coffee pot, but Mrs. Jenkins waved him off. "Sit down and I'll pour you both a cup.

Deciding not to argue, Lee pulled out a chair and sat down. "It was no big deal." He shrugged with a warning glance at the rancher. "Jess told them no and told them to leave and they did. Guess they didn't want to tackle two of us. Huh, Jess?"

"Uh, yeah." Jess answered, taking a chair next to Lee and accepting the cup of coffee Mrs. Jenkins handed him.

Amanda looked at her husband and rolled her eyes. "Nice try, Stetson. Now tell me the truth. What happened?"

"Nothing. Honest." Lee told her. "We talked they left." Seeing the doubt still in her eyes, he got up and pulled her back into his arms. "Honey, look. Nothing happened. Come on. Do we look hurt or anything?"

"No," Amanda sighed, eyeing him carefully. "It's just that… well; I don't trust those men, Lee. I'm afraid they're going to do something bad."

"Well, you may be right." Lee agreed. "Here, have a seat." He ushered her into a chair and took the one next to her. "But not if we plan this thing right. Now, Jess has got some maps and aerial photos of this place and we're going to sit down and go over them. If we can identify the weak spots and shore them up, then there's not a whole lot he can do."

"What about the Agency?" Amanda asked, knowing how Lee felt about that subject. "I know they won't help us officially but…"

"No." Lee said firmly. "Smyth made it clear that we are persona non grata there. Anyone caught helping us, could find their heads on a chopping block. Besides, the Agency's federal. I doubt Stone is breaking any federal laws and even if he is, it's probably nothing we could prove."

"What about Billy or Harry or TP?" Amanda asked.

Lee considered that for a moment before nodding in agreement. "You know that might not be too bad an idea. Harry's working on something I know. But Billy or TP might be able to help. They still have contacts, in and out of the Agency that could at least give us an idea what exactly we're up against with this guy." Lee got back up and looked at his watch. "It's still early in Washington, but they'll probably both be up. Jess, why don't you go get those maps and photos, while I call them and we'll go from there."

As Jess got up and left to find the maps, Lee bent down and gave Amanda a kiss. "Don't worry, will ya? It's going to be just fine. We'll get the bad guys and still have time for a weenie roast out by the old camp fire."

Amanda said nothing as Lee turned and walked out but inside, she had feeling that this time, Lee Stetson was wrong.

Three hours later, Lee sat back in his chair, stretching his back and neck missing the noise of his family. Amanda and the boys had taken Ox and Mrs. Jenkins and had gone into the small town of Talihina to do a little shopping and the place was quiet without them. He'd gotten a hold of both Billy and TP and they promised to find out as much information as they could and call him back. Since then, he and Jess had been pouring over the maps and pictures of this property and Lee was astounded at how defenseless the place was. Being so big, there weren't too many fences except for the spots designated for the cattle.

"I don't know, Jess." Lee scrubbed the back of his head. "You have quite a few places on here that just about anybody could have access to and you not even know it, especially now that he's chased most of your workers off. I can't figure out why Stone didn't just use one of those places without telling you. Why is it so important for him to own this place?"

"Beats me." Jess shrugged. "I ain't got no idea and to tell ya the truth I was just a bit too afraid to ask."

"Well, I have an idea." Amanda spoke up from the door as she walked in arms full of groceries.

Quickly, Lee jumped up and took the bags from her, sitting them down on the counter. "What are you talking about? You hear something while in town?"

Amanda smiled and nodded as Mrs. Jenkins and the boys came in behind her. "Yes, we did, Lee. We may have figured out why Stone wants to own this land. Oh, by the way, Jess, they didn't have the type of cereal you like so we got something else. I hope that's alright. If not, we can try again tomorrow of course I don't know when they restock so they might still not have any. Anyway, while the boys and I were in town we heard something and we think we figured something out. Well, at least the something that makes Stone want this place."

"Why?" Jess and Lee both asked at once. Lee knew it must be good for Amanda to go into full blown ramble mode.

"Because Jess is gonna be rich." Jamie piped up as he walked up to stand beside his mother. "Ain't that great?"

Amanda looked askance at her son's language. "Jamie, use proper English." She looked back over at her host. "Jess, Jamie's right. You could very well be rich." She grinned.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

**Time in the Country 10**

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Mrs. Jenkins shooed everyone out of the kitchen so she could prepare dinner. Lee, Amanda and Jess retired to the parlor to discuss what they had found out. The boys, though excited at the prospect of Jess', maybe, newfound wealth, found the rest of the discussion boring and asked permission to go outside and see the horses.

Amanda immediately said no but Jess convinced her that the boys would be safe enough as long as they stayed near the corral and didn't go anywhere, something they both enthusiastically agreed to. Reluctantly, Amanda allowed them go, when she realized this was supposed to be their vacation and so far it hadn't been one. Of course that didn't stop her from getting up every so often to go look out of the large kitchen window and reassure herself that they were still there and safe.

After her fourth trip, Lee reached out and took her hand. "Amanda. Will you quit worrying? The boys are fine."

"I know." She sighed. "But if I'm right, then Stone is going to be looking for any leverage he can find and I don't want my sons to be it."

Lee nodded and looked back down again at Jess' photos. While in town, Amanda had been present when Mrs. Jenkins ran into an old friend, whose family owned property just on the other side of Jess' place.

The friend, Mrs. Taylor, a small woman with pinched lips and a permanently sour expression complimented by blue hair, told Mrs. Jenkins that her husband had received a rather large offer on their land and that they were thinking of taking it. When asked for details, she supplied that a big corporation was buying it.

She didn't know specifically why they wanted it, but she suspected it had to do with the timber and minerals on his property as it was too hilly for much else.

That got Amanda to thinking and when she, Lee and Jess looked back over the maps and the studies of his property, it made perfect sense.

Since Jess owned the mineral rights to the land nothing could be done to it or taken from it, without his permission. Stone was beginning to pull out all of the stops to force his hand and make him sell.

"I don't know." Jess shook his head. "Sounds like he's a going all the way round the barn to milk the cow by the front gate."

Lee and Amanda both looked at him curiously. "Huh?" Lee asked.

"I said it looks like he's…. Aw, look." Jess said with some exasperation. "Why bother with all these tricks? Why not just kill me and buy the land? I ain't got no relatives and the state would probably take it and sell it after I died."

"True," Lee reasoned. "But a death investigation would take a lot of time, even if he made it look like an accident, as would the wait for the state to settle this place and sell it. For some reason, I get the impression Stone doesn't want to wait. He's in a hurry."

"Yeah? For what?" Jess got up and paced around the room, finally stopping at the fireplace. "What would he hope to gain with this place. Even if I gave it to him, it'd take him time to sell and from everything I heard, he's got plenty of money, so anything he'd get wouldn't make that much of a difference."

"Maybe he doesn't want to sell it." Amanda put in.

"Yeah and could be that needs this place sooner rather than later." Lee started to elaborate when the phone rang. "That could be Billy or TP." He said as he got up and crossed over to the phone. "Hello?"

Amanda stood by the door way watching while Lee was on the phone. By the expression on his face, she could tell he was getting some invaluable information.

"You sure about this, TP?" He finally asked. After a few more moments of silence, he nodded as though the caller could see him. "Alright, TP, and hey, thanks. I appreciate it." Hanging up the phone, Lee looked over at Amanda. "Did that neighbor say what the name of that big corporation was that was buying her place?"

Amanda thought back to the conversation and then nodded. "Kelson Industries, I believe it was."

Lee nodded with a smile. "Thought so. That's a dummy corporation that belongs to Stone. And TP heard that the government is looking into putting something in this area. He couldn't find out exactly what yet but he's still checking. Could be that Stone thinks to profit off of it somehow, so he's buying up land in hopes it's his land the government settles on. Land like yours, Jess."

Jess stared at Lee, shocked. "My land? Why? It ain't no better'n anybody else's."

Lee shrugged. "Maybe, but then again maybe it is. It is bigger than most of the other places around here, and since we don't know exactly what the government is planning on for this area, it may be more valuable than you know."

But Jess shook his head no. "I don't think so. I mean the whole thing together, even when things are at the best, don't amount to too much. Even in my best years, I don't do that good."

"Yeah, but you're looking at this land like a rancher would." Amanda spoke up. "But I don't think this Lou Stone is."

"What do you mean?" Jess asked.

"A rancher uses the land." Lee joined in, understanding what Amanda was getting at. "You use it for grazing and harvesting trees and some farming in order to make a living. Right?"

Jess nodded. "Yeah. Like I told ya, I use this land for all kinds of things."

"Uh, huh." Lee smiled over at Amanda before looking back at Jess. "But Stone has no intentions of using this land that way. Unless I miss my guess, there is either something on this land or in it or..."

"Or going to be." Amanda finished for him as another thought struck. "But Lee, if the government did want to put something here on this land or nearby how would that benefit Stone? He's not in the government, is he?"

"I don't know." Lee shook his head.

"Sounds to me like, you all have half a box." Mrs. Jenkins spoke up from the doorway. "Dinner's ready."

Amanda and Lee exchanged puzzled glances but apparently Jess understood as he rose with a nod. "Yep, think you're right. What'd you fix for dinner?"

As they moved towards the dining room, Lee suddenly stopped and went back over to the aerial photographs of Jess's land, staring at them intently.

"Lee?" Amanda asked coming over to look over shoulder. "You spot something?"

Lee shrugged, pointing at a spot on one of the photos. "Maybe. Jess?" He turned to his host. "What's this?"

Jess stopped just short of the door leading into the dining room and turned back, looking at the photo Lee held up. "Tallest place on this property." The rancher grunted. "I had some radio station offer to buy that section of land from me once, said it'd be the perfect place for their tower, but I turned them down same as I turned Stone down. Why?"

Lee gave him a thoughtful look. "Is it near your neighbor's property?"

"Yeah, why?" Jess asked again.

But still Lee wasn't ready to answer. "Could you take me up there?"

"Yeah," Jess repeated. "Not till tomorrow though. Too late today. But why? What's that got to do with nothing?"

"I may have an idea of what the government wants and Stone too." Lee smiled with a curious glint in his eye.

"Good." Jess nodded. "Then you can tell us over dinner. I'm gonna visit the little boy's room and I'll join you all in there in a minute."

Lee nodded and placed his hand in the small of Amanda's back to escort her into the dining room. Neither one saw Jess heading to his office instead of the rest room.

TBC

**Author's note: Us Okies have all kinds of strange sayings. Jess' comment about going around the barn is one of them. Means simply that someone is making something long and complicated out of something simple. And half a box means half a box of puzzle pieces but not the whole picture.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Time in the Country 11**

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Over dinner, Lee explained to everyone his thoughts. "I'll need to wait until I hear from someone in DC but I have a feeling that the government wants to put some sort of tower down here. Now that high point on your property would be the perfect place to place something like that, just like that radio station wanted to. Jess, you said, Stone bought some other properties around here?"

Jess nodded but Mrs. Jenkins answered. "He's bought about four other places."

Lee smiled. "Did any of them have high points on them, like you have?"

Jess sat in thoughtful silence for a moment, before looking back up at Lee. "Nope, none of em, come to think of it."

"What if Stone found out that the Government wants to put something like a radio tower around here somewhere. If your place is the only one with a high point like that, that would make your place very valuable to him. His buying those other properties could beither a smoke screen or his way of making sure he had this place surrounded." Lee looked around the table. He could tell even the boys were beginning to get the picture he was painting.

But Amanda, always the soul of logic spoke up. "So what?" She asked. "Lee, if the government does put a tower on this property, Stone wouldn't be able to get near it, would he? I mean, even if he owned it, wouldn't they restrict access to it or maybe even buy it outright to keep people away from it?"

"Maybe." Lee agreed. "But then again, maybe he might know of some way to tap into whatever kind of signals or what ever a tower would emit. If he owns the property that tower sits on or at least the property close around it, he'd have an awful easy time of doing that."

"Well," Jess sat back and threw his napkin on the table. I don't know about all that, but I do know I got chores to do. This place don't run itself and with so few hands left, I got me a lot of work to do, especially if I'm gonna take you up to the point tomorrow."

"Can we help?" Phillip asked excitedly.

"Yeah, can we?" Jamie pitched in.

Jess looked over at Amanda and Lee. "Can they? I could sure use the help and could maybe teach em a little more about horses to boot."

"Can we, Mom?" Both boys asked in unison.

"Alright," Amanda sighed. ""But listen to what Mr. Richards tells you and be careful." She admonished them. "The idea is to help him, not hinder him."

"Alright!" The boys slapped palms before getting up and following Jess out the back door.

Lee grinned with a shake of his head. "I told you, we should've gotten that little place with the 5 acres and gotten a horse or two."

Amanda started to reply, but her stomach suddenly gave a lurch and she knew she'd not be able to sit there much longer. Trying to look as casual as possible, she got up from her chair and headed for the bathroom.

Lee wasn't blind however and he saw how she had clutched at her stomach as she rose. "Amanda? You alright?" Amanda didn't answer as she rushed from the room.

He started up after her, but Mrs. Jenkins stopped him with a hand on his arm. "She's feeling a bit off. Nothing for you to worry about. I think my country cookin's a bit rich for her. Why don't you go on out with Jess and the boys and I'll see to her."

"Well, I…" Lee started to protest, but Mrs. Jenkins was already pushing him towards the door.

"You go on. She'll be fine. I'll see to her." Her hands on his back, she gave him one final shove.

Reluctantly, Lee nodded and headed out. "I'll check on her in a little bit."

"Alright, now go on." Mrs. Jenkins gave him one final shove and then turned for the restroom. "Poor girl." She muttered.

Lee and the boys spent the rest of the day working with Jess. Though Lee knew some things about horses, he quickly found that he was no where near the expert that Jess was. There seemed to be little that he didn't know and wasn't willing to share. By that evening, Lee and both of the boys were exhausted but happy and a lot more knowledgeable about all things equine.

And it didn't escape Lee's notice that the boys not only got along well together, but seemed at complete ease around him as well. Despite whatever danger they might be in here at this ranch, Lee suspected that at least one good thing was going to come out of their time here. Maybe two, if he and Amanda ever got to spend some time alone, he grinned to himself.

Amanda had spent the remainder of the day resting, Mrs. Jenkins orders. Though she had protested that she was perfectly fine and she wanted to help the older woman in her daily chores, Mrs. Jenkins, whose first name was Kathleen, refused to allow it.

"Mrs. Stetson," she looked over the rim of her glasses at the pale looking brunette. "You got something much more important to worry about than housework and such and you know it."

Amanda looked down. "I know. I just… it's just…" She had no real idea how to express how she was feeling.

But Kathleen Jenkins, widowed mother of five reached over and patted her hands. "I understand." She smiled kindly. "So will he."

The next morning, Lee and Jess rose early and climbed into Ox for the trek up the hillside to the highest point on Jess's property. Lee wanted a good look at the terrain, hoping he could spot something pertinent to this whole thing.

Amanda had awakened when Lee got up and got up to go with him, but he refused. "Amanda, stay here. We're only going to go up there and take a quick look around. Honest. Nothing dangerous."

"I know, Lee, but…"

"But nothing, Amanda." Lee said sternly as he bent back down and kissed her. "You stay here and rest. Jess and I will be back before you know it."

Amanda finally relented and let him go but later that morning she regretted that decision, when Ox pulled up into the drive, piloted not by Lee or Jess but by Jess' neighbor. Jess was in the bed of the truck, unconscious, a bloody knot on his head. Lee was no where to be found.

TBC


	12. Chapter 12

**Time in the Country 12**

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The drive to the small clinic in town was agonizingly slow for Amanda. Concerned for Jess, who was still unconscious, she was also frightened half out of her mind, thinking of what could have happened to Lee.

The neighbor, Dave Taylor, had been near where Lee and Jess were, when he'd heard the sound of, what he thought were, gunshots. Knowing no one but he or Jess should be in the area, he went up to take a look. Jess was lying in the bed of his truck, unconscious. There were lots of footprints around but no one else that he could see.

Unable to move the senseless man to his own car, Dave had jumped into Jess' Ford and driven it back down the hill to the house. When he arrived and found that another man had been with Jess, he agreed to go back up and search for him, while Amanda, Mrs. Jenkins and the boys took the injured rancher to the clinic. Having no hospital close by and no such thing as an ambulance service, they had no other choice to take him to help.

Amanda, of course, wanted to go in search of her husband. But as Mrs. Jenkins couldn't drive, nor could Phillip, who only had a learner's permit, Amanda had to be the one to drive. With a pang of regret, Amanda jumped into the old truck and barreled down the country roads to the only medical facilities close by, the Steele clinic.

Dr. Steele was an older man, with iron gray hair, what little there was of it and twinkling green eyes, hidden behind a small pair of round spectacles. His short rotund figure gave a totally different impression than his actions when they arrived and he immediately supervised the transfer of the injured man inside and to an examining room.

While he worked on Jess, Mrs. Jenkins called the police and told them what happened. Having no real police force of its own in Talihina, a county officer was dispatched but it would be sometime before he could arrive. Until that time, all they could do was wait, something that was proving hard for Amanda to do.

"Mrs. Jenkins," she looked at the older housekeeper. "I can't just sit here. I've got to go and try to find Lee."

The small little woman looked up at Amanda and nodded with a sigh. "I know you want to, child. I know. I'd be doing the same thing if it were…" She stopped and suddenly Amanda understood a great deal more about Kathleen Jenkins.

Reaching over and giving her a hug, Amanda patted her hand. "Jess is going to be alright." She reassured her. "I know he will. He's got too much to get well for."

Kathleen looked at the younger woman and saw an understanding in her eyes that she seldom saw in women her own age of 59. "Thank you." She whispered.

"Mom?" Jamie asked, breaking the moment. "Are we going to back out there and look for Lee?"

Amanda regarded her youngest son for a moment, not sure if he was worried about Lee or glad to have him gone. Shaking her head, she knew she needed to keep her sons safe. "No, Jamie." She answered. "I am. I need you and Phillip to stay here with Mrs. Jenkins."

"Aw, come on, Mom." Phillip stepped up beside his brother with a protest. "It'd be easier searching with all three of us."

"Ain't no need to search." A voice spoke up from the door.

All heads swiveled to see Dave Taylor standing in the entryway. "I've combed that area, Ma'am." He said regretfully. "I found a lot of foot prints and some tire tracks that don't belong to me and Jess, but there ain't no sign of anyone else up there. Looks like whoever hurt old Jess in there, took your husband."

Amanda suddenly felt a pounding in her ears and dizziness overtook her. "N… no." She managed as she reeled slightly.

Instantly, the boys and Mrs. Jenkins were at her side, directing her to a chair. "Mom?" Phillip held tightly to her arm.

Amanda looked at the worry on both of her son's faces and gave them a smile and a slight shake of her spinning head. "I'm fine sweetheart. Really, I'm fine."

"You sure about that?" Mrs. Jenkins asked.

Amanda considered that question for a moment. Her husband was missing and perhaps kidnapped and she was far away from home with two sons to care for. "I'm fine." She forced strength to her voice as she started to her feet. "I guess I just should've eaten breakfast this morning."

Just then Dr. Steele stepped in and saw the ashen look on Amanda's face.

"Mrs. King? Are you feeling okay?"

"Yes." Amanda quickly replied. "How's Jess?" She directed the conversation away from herself.

"He's going to be fine." The doctor answered. "He has a concussion but he came to just a little bit ago and I believe he'll make a complete recovery. But I'm concerned about you now."

Amanda shook her head. "I'm alright." She repeated, this time a little more forcibly. "I just need to find my husband."

"Mom, please?" Jamie's eyes were wide behind his glasses and glancing at Phillip she saw fear on his face as well.

With a sigh, she pulled them both into a fierce hug before pushing them back a little and gaining her feet. "I am fine, fellas, honest. Like I said, it's just because I skipped breakfast."

Mrs. Jenkins shook her head. "Amanda Stetson, you are one stubborn woman."

Amanda grinned. "I think I've been told that before." She looked back at Dr. Steele. "Did Jess know who did this?"

The balding physician nodded, still guardedly watching her; unsure she was as 'fine' as she kept saying. "He said it was Stone, whatever that means."

Amanda took a deep breath. "That's what I thought." Steeling herself for what she knew she must do, she looked around for her purse, finding it on a nearby chair. Picking it up, she reached inside for the keys to the old white Ford of Jess's.

"What are you going to do?" Kathleen's face suddenly grew concerned when she saw the expression on the younger woman's face.

"I'm going after my husband." Amanda said determinedly.

"But… but you can't." The alarmed housekeeper declared. "You don't know where he is or even where Stone is and…"

"I know where Stone's place is." Amanda answered. "Remember? You pointed it out to me. That's all I need to know."

"But…" Kathleen's protests were ignored, though, as Amanda hugged her sons once again and turned and headed for the door. "Stay here boys." She ordered. "I'll be back."

The boys exchanged glances and a shrug but ignored their mother's command. "We're going with you." Phillip declared.

"Oh, no, you're not." Amanda turned back to them. "I think one family member in danger is enough. Now I don't know what I'm going to walk into out there but I'm not taking you two into it with me. So stay here!"

Amanda started once again for the door when she dropped her keys. As she bent to pick them up, the contents of her unclasped purse fell to the floor beside her. While she was gathering her things, she never noticed the boys slip out of the door and run outside. She never saw them hiding behind the seats of the old truck until she was already at Stone's compound and getting ready to walk in to the lion's den.

TBC


	13. Chapter 13

**Time in the Country 13**

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Parking just short of the drive, leading to Stone's house, Amanda reached over and grabbed her purse. Inside, in a hidden compartment, she had a small handgun. Pulling it free and stashing her purse under the seat, she checked to make sure it was loaded and then took off the safety.

Though still not comfortable with it, over the years she had come to grips with the fact that in her life as a spy, and now as an investigator, there were just sometimes that a gun was a necessity. Considering the fact that she was going into an unknown situation without backup to face men she knew were criminals, she felt the gun more than necessary.

Taking a deep, contemplative breath, Amanda reached for the door handle when she heard something from behind her. Gripping the gun tightly, she brought it up and turned to see the startled faces of her sons looking at, first her, then the gun. "Oh, my gosh! What are you two doing here?" She exclaimed half in anger and half in a grudging admiration for their pluck. Seeing where their attention was directed, she dropped the gun into her lap and covered it with her hand.

"We're not going to let you go in there alone, Mom." Phillip said with a certain amount of defiance in his voice. "If that man hurt Lee, then he could hurt you. We're not going to let him, if we can stop it."

Amanda dropped her head, conflicting emotions coursing through her. Proud of her boy's courage, she was never the less frightened for their safety. "Boys, no." She finally said. "I don't know what I'm going to run into, when I get in there. It's not safe. Now you need to stay in the truck and…"

"Would you stay here, Mom?" Jamie interrupted her with a simple question.

Amanda stopped and pursed her lips. Her boys were more like her than she realized. Looking back out the window at the place she was getting ready to invade, she thought about what she would do, what she had done in the past. The same as the boys had done. Coming to a conclusion, she returned her gaze to her sons. "Stay with me." She advised them. "Don't go wandering off on your own and if I say for you to run, you do it. Don't question, just do it. Is that clear?"

Both boys nodded. "Gee, Mom." Phillip said as they got out of the truck. "You sounded just like Lee right then."

Amanda smiled briefly thinking of her handsome husband and praying fervently that soon, she could laugh with Lee about that comment. "Come on." She whispered. "Stay low and stay behind me."

Getting onto Stone's compound was easy, as the front of his property was heavily wooded. But the closer they got to the house, the more open the landscaping and soon they found themselves out of cover save for the small group of bushes they were currently hiding behind.

"What do we do now, Mom?" Phillip whispered.

Amanda didn't answer as she surveyed the property. Directly in front of where they were was the expansive front lawn leading up to the impressive three story rock and timber house. To their left was a large horse corral situated in front of huge white barn. To their right was the driveway leading up to the house and a small fenced off pasture just beyond that. She couldn't see behind the house but she doubted there would be anything worth going around there to see.

"Mom, look." Jamie shook her arm and pointed towards the barn. "There's trees on the side all the way around to the back of the barn. Do you think we could sneak back the way we came and follow them up to the barn?"

"What good would that do us, idiot?" Phillip gave his brother a cross look. "If Lee's in the house…"

"Hush, Phillip, don't call your brother idiot."" Amanda said a little more sharply than she intended to but a plan was coming to her and she needed to concentrate for a moment.

Tucking her gun into the back of her waist band she turned to the boys. "We don't know where Lee is. But we're not going to find out by staying here in the bushes. Now, I think your idea is a good one, Jamie. At least there, we'll be a little closer to the house. So come on. Follow me, stay low."

The boys didn't answer as they studied their mom. Although they'd always known she was strong and since finally admitting to them about her secret life of five years as a spy, they now knew how brave she must be, but they had never really seen her in action. The woman, they were seeing now, was nothing at all like the mild mannered housewife they had always thought her. With both pride and trepidation they followed her back into the woods and around to the back of the barn.

Once they reached that point, they halted some distance from the structure. As before, Amanda silently studied the area immediately surrounding them. Seeing nothing, she pulled her gun back into her hand and turned to the boys. "I don't see anyone or anything, but it's best not to take any chances. I want you two to stay here. "

"But, Mom…" Phillip started to protest but Amanda cut him off.

"No, Phillip, not this time. Now look, if I get caught in there, I'm going to need you both to go back to the truck and go for help. It won't do anyone any good, if we're all caught. You understand me?"

"Yes, Ma'am." They responded a little disconsolately. They really didn't want her to go into the barn and leave them out there alone.

"Alright. Now I'm going right through there and into that door. If you hear or see anything, you take off for the truck. The keys are under the mat." Seeing that they understood, Amanda pulled them fiercely into her embrace, kissing them both before releasing them and starting off in a crouched run towards the barn.

Jamie looked at his older brother for a moment and then back at the way his mom had gone. "You can drive." He told Phillip. "I can't. You go for help if need be, I'm going after Mom."

"No way, worm brain." Phillip retorted. "We both go after Mom."

Jamie favored his sometimes nemesis with a smile. "Deal."

Scanning the area for several moments to make sure they weren't seen, both boys jumped up and ran to the door their mom had entered in through. When they got there, they heard loud voices and the sound of something or someone hitting the wall hard.

Exchanging worried and fearful glances, they nodded to each other and Phillip opened the door as they both rushed in. What they saw, was something they would never forget.

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

**Time in the Country 14**

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Amanda had crossed the short open space to the barn with gritty determination to both find her husband and get him and her children out of there in one piece. Before leaving the Agency she had worked a few cases alone but none of them had been as important as this. She didn't even want to contemplate the consequences if she should fail.

When she reached door, she raised her gun and stood, silently listening. She heard someone inside humming a soft tune but no echoing voices. Knowing she had no choice, she swiftly opened the door and jumped in to find one lone man just inside, brushing down a horse.

Putting on her best Agent in command persona, she drew a bead on the startled man's face. "Put your hands up." She demanded. "NOW!"

Too stunned to do much else, the man raised his hands and took a step backwards. Instantly Amanda was on him. Shoving him against the stall wall, she placed her gun directly at his temple, her other hand she pressed against his throat. "Where's my husband?" She demanded.

When Phillip flung the door open and the boys threw themselves inside, they were astounded at what they saw. Just inside the door, their mother was standing with a man pushed up against a stall, her gun placed against his temple and her hand around his throat. "Way to go, Mom!" Phillip expressed his admiration.

"Where is he?" She demanded again through gritted teeth, ignoring her son's presence, she pressed harder against his adam's apple.

"Somebody'll be coming." The man said in reply, trying to catch a breath. "Somebody'll be coming in any minute and you and your brats will be guests of Mr. Stone just like your man." Despite the gun at his head, the man had the temerity to smile.

His reaction and refusal infuriated Amanda and she placed her finger on the trigger. "It won't help you." She said, meeting his smirk with a steely gaze. "Cause you'll be dead."

Seeing the murderous look in the brunette's eyes, the man suddenly paled, understanding just how serious she was. Swallowing hard, he motioned to a large grain bin against the far wall. "In there." He managed.

Though she hadn't acknowledged them, Amanda knew the boys had disobeyed her orders and followed her in. "Jamie," she ordered without taking her eyes off the man in front of her. "See if you can find some rope. Phillip, come here."

Jamie looked around urgently and finally located a loop of rope in the next stall. "Found it, Mom."

"Good, you and Phillip get this man tied up." She told them, still never relinquishing the hold she had on him until the boys had him surrounded and his hands tied securely behind his back. "Gag him, too." She said as she finally lowered her gun and ran across to the feed bin and pulled up the lid.

Lee was lying inside, awake but tied and gagged much as the boys now had the worker. "Oh, Lee." She gasped. Putting the gun back into her waist band, she knelt down and removed the gag from Lee's mouth then began working on the ropes around his wrists.

"Amanda." He sighed in relief. As soon as he was free from his bonds, Lee got up from his tiny cell and climbed out, pulling Amanda tightly into his arms. "Are you alright?" He asked, kissing her forehead.

"Me?" She pulled back. "I'm not the one tied up in a feed bin."

Lee shook his head with a grin, too happy to see her to care about the fact that she was right. Looking over at where the boys were, Lee gave them a grateful smile as he finally released Amanda and stepped over to them, pulling them both into his arms for a moment. "I have never been so happy to see anyone in my life as I am you three."

Just then, they heard noises coming from the front of the barn. "They're coming." Jamie's adolescent voice cracked in his fearful excitement.

Lee nodded. "Yeah, come on. Let's get out of here." Pushing the boys towards the door ahead of him, he held out his hand for his wife, not moving until she reached his side and took it.

When they got to the door, Lee stepped in front of his family, and cautiously opened the door. Peering outside. He saw no one around but he knew that was no guarantee. However, hearing the sound of voices and footsteps getting closer, they had no choice but to risk it. "Hand me your gun." He whispered to Amanda.

Instantly she pulled it from her waist band and handed it to him. Raising it above his head, Lee swung the door open and stepped out, locking his arms straight out in front of him, ready to fire. No one was there. "Let's go." He ordered quietly as he hurled himself outside and ran, stopping only until his family had caught up to him and passed him on the way to cover.

Without a moment to spare, they made the safety of the thick woods and dropped from sight just as yelling could be heard from the barn and the back door flew open with several men spilling out.

Phillip and Jamie's eyes grew wide and they looked at Lee and Amanda, praying they had a plan.

"Run." Was the answer they received and quickly they obeyed, running hard behind their mother as their stepfather trailed along behind them, gun raised, ready to shoot anyone who might spot them.

The woods, they were running through, were thick and heavy with undergrowth and several times Amanda came close to falling, but she never stopped. Reaching back, she took a hand of each of her children and continued to run until they came to a small clearing and she could make herself go no further.

The voices of their pursuers could still be heard but they were much dimmer and seemed to be heading away from them. Lee and the boys stopped, dropping their hands to their knees to keep from falling on the ground. Amanda was leaning heavily against a tree, unsure she could move, even if Stone and his men were to show up right then and there with machine guns.

"Lee," she gasped for air. "I… don't think… I can… run anymore."

Lee nodded. "I know. But we can't stay here. How'd you all get here?"

"Ox." Jamie answered.

"Yeah," Phillip joined in as he looked around them. "But I don't think we're heading in the right direction to get back to it. We came in from the south." He pointed to some moss on the side of the tree Amanda was leaning on. "We're heading north."

Lee remembered his and Amanda's first trip through the woods on a long ago Christmas Eve. He had learned then not to argue with the Junior Trailblazers. "Alright, then." He said. "We'll have to circle back around. Come on."

Wearily Amanda pushed herself away from the tree, hoping she had the strength to keep up with her strong husband and sons, but suddenly her stomach cramped up and she knew she couldn't. "Lee?" She looked at him in fear. "I… I can't."

Lee turned just in time to see Amanda falling forward.

TBC


	15. Chapter 15

**Time in the Country 15**

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Throwing himself forward, Lee just barely caught Amanda before she landed in a heap on the rough ground. "Amanda? Honey? You alright?"

Amanda winced as her stomach convulsed and she rolled in Lee's arms, wrapping her arms protectively around her middle. "Lee..." She couldn't say more for the moment.

"Mom?" Jamie knelt beside her, placing a hand on her arm. "Mom, what's wrong?" Angrily he looked up at Lee. "What'd you do to her?"

"Jamie." Amanda's tone was sharp but ragged. "He… didn't do anything. I just… ran too hard. Don't... yell at him."

Lee shook his head. "It's alright, Amanda. He's just worried about you. I am too. We need to get out of here."

Phillip knelt to her other side and worriedly looked at first her, than Lee. "How? What are we gonna do?"

Lee didn't answer for a moment as he looked wildly about them and listened to the voices that were consistently heading away from them. "It sounds like they're headed in the direction we were going to." He finally answered. "That means we keep going north. These woods can't go on forever. We're bound to come up on something."

Amanda by then had caught her breath and the pain in her abdomen had lessened. Gripping her son's hand, which was still firmly holding her arm, she smiled at him. "I'm alright, Jamie. I'll be fine."

"Maybe." Lee searched her face, knowing she wasn't completely being honest with him. "But then maybe we need to get you someplace to rest for a while."

Phillip, who'd won just about every badge the Junior Trailblazers had ever given out, intently searched the woods around them and suddenly spotted something Lee would've never noticed. "Hey, look. There's a trail."

All heads swiveled in the direction he was pointing. Jamie had to take a second look before he saw it too. "Yeah! It's heading in the direction we want to go too."

Lee furrowed his brow, not quite seeing what they did but willing to believe them. "How far do you think it runs?"

"Not sure." Phillip shrugged. "It looks like a feeding track. But it's sure to at least lead us to water."

Amanda took a deep breath and gently pulled away from Lee. "Then we'd better follow it." She said struggling to her feet with Lee's help. "We've got to get away from here before they find our tracks and it dawns on them which direction we went."

"You sure you can walk?" Lee asked.

Amanda swallowed hard and nodded. "If you let me lean on you from time to time."

Instantly, Lee wrapped his arm around her waist. "You got it."

By the time they reached a small pond, she was walking straighter and felt better. Her stomach had stopped cramping and though she felt weak, she was sure she'd be able to do whatever was needed to help Lee get them out of this situation.

When they stopped, Lee looked around at their surroundings. The small pond they found was partially surrounded by trees but there was a well-worn path leading up and over a short ridge and a small dock at the opposite end. They had to be close to some sort of civilization.

"Lee." Phillip jutted his chin towards the path. "I'm going to head up to the top of that ridge and have a look."

"Jamie, go with him." Amanda told her youngest. "You two stay together and stay low."

Jamie took two steps and then turned back to his mother. He uttered not a sound but Amanda heard him loud and clear. "I'm fine, sweetheart." She gave him a loving smile. "Honest. I'm going to just sit right here and rest while two go and have a look. I'll be okay."

Lee said nothing as he watched his wife and son interact. They had a communication all their own that he was envious of.

When Jamie turned and followed his brother, Amanda looked up at her husband. "We've got two good kids." She said proudly.

Lee noticed she'd included him and he nodded. "Yes."

Amanda thought of her secret, the one she needed to share with Lee before too long. But she felt right then was not the time. Instead she changed the subject. "Lee? What happened? How and why did Stone take you?"

Lee ran a hand through his hair, as he got to his feet and stepped over to the pond. Taking a handkerchief from his pocket, he got it damp and placed on the tender spot on the back of his head. "I'm not sure, exactly." He finally sighed. "Me and Jess were up on the hill taking a look around when suddenly Stone and four of his goons drove up. They pulled guns and ordered us to get in their car."

"And of course, you didn't do that." Amanda knew her husband well.

Lee dropped his head with a rueful grin. "Nope, we fought. I had two of them down and Jess almost had another when suddenly the lights went out. I woke up in that grain bin with a headache." Lee stopped talking suddenly when something dawned on him. "By the way, how'd you know where I was? And why'd you come alone with the boys? Amanda, you know how dangerous that was? You could've…"

"Lee, don't you dare." Amanda said with a note of irritation in her voice. "I didn't _'know'_ exactly that you were at that ranch but Jess told the doctor that Stone had you. I couldn't think of where else to start looking. And I came alone because there's no real police around here and the county police were taking too long to come and I knew when they did they'd ask a lot of questions and take a lot of time and I was afraid to wait and I didn't bring the boys, they hid in the back of the truck and I didn't know they were until I parked the truck and…"

Her voice was becoming ragged with emotion and it sounded to Lee like she was about to start crying. Quickly, he knelt down beside her and pulled her tightly to him. "I'm sorry." He whispered. "I'm so proud of you for what you did and yet scared half to death at the same time. You worry me, Mrs. Stetson, anytime you get out of the car."

Amanda pushed away the threatening tears and lightly chuckled. "It was a truck." She looked up at him.

Lee shook his head as he gave her kiss. "Point taken."

Just then Phillip and Jamie came running back towards them. "There's a small farm just a little ways over that ridge." Phillip announced.

Using Lee for support, Amanda immediately got to her feet. "I guess we'd better go and check it out."

"Wait a minute, Amanda." Lee rose and grabbed her arm. "We don't know that it's safe. Living this close to Stone they could be employees of his or something."

Amanda sighed wearily. "I know. But we can't just stay out in these woods. We need to do something to get back to town. The police should be there by now."

"Mom's right." Jamie spoke up. "We can't stay here."

"Yeah," Lee nodded. "Your mother's always right. Come on. Let's go see the farmer."

TBC


	16. Chapter 16

**Time in the Country 16**

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The walk to the small farm house was longer than it looked like from top of the ridge but finally they stepped into the yard. It didn't take much inspection to see that the farm was deserted, the house empty.

"Well, it was a nice thought while it lasted." Amanda sighed wearily, sitting down on the front stoop of the run down shack that at one time was someone's home.

Lee nodded absently as he looked around the abandoned old homestead. "Well, at least there's a drive which means there's probably a road not too far. We get to the road and…"

"And what?" Jamie snapped at him. "It ever occur to you, Mr. Superspy, that maybe that man will be on that road, or that Mom can't walk anymore."

"Jamie!" Amanda's voice was stern and her face red with anger. "That's enough. Now listen, none of this is Lee's fault."

"No, Amanda." Lee shook his head as he looked at his youngest stepson. "Jamie's got a right to be upset with me. You all do. If you hadn't come after me, you wouldn't be here right now."

"Lee," Amanda regarded him seriously. "No one made me come after you. And it's not your fault that the boys are here either. They chose to get in that truck the same as I did." She turned once to her youngest. "And you, young man, had better realize that we are all in this together and we will have to work together to get out of it."

Jamie dropped his head and turned away, not exactly ashamed of himself but not pleased that his mother had basically scolded him for what he saw as taking up for her.

With a glance at Amanda, Lee stepped over to him. "Jamie. I know you love your mom and I know you're only worried about her. And I can't say that I disagree with how you feel about me. But she is right. We do need to work together. Can we at least agree to do that until we're safe?"

Jamie studied his stepfather's face for several long moments before finally nodding. "Alright." He sighed.

"Lee." Phillip, who'd disappeared for a few minutes, appeared from around the side of the house. "Hey, guys! I found a truck."

Lee and Amanda looked at each other and Lee reached down helping Amanda to her feet. Phillip led them to what at one time was a barn but was now not much more than a falling down stack of boards nailed together. Sitting inside was a listing, rusty bucket of bolts, which at one time was a bright red Ford F100.

"1956 model." Lee said almost appreciatively. "Barney had one like it. Doubt it runs, Phillip." He said regretfully.

"Not yet." Phillip grinned. "But I bet you I can get it running. I checked it. The keys are in the ignition and the battery's got some life in it. It won't start but I think I can figure it out."

"Are you sure, Phillip?" Amanda asked looking dubiously at the hulking piece of steel.

"I think so." Phillip all but bragged. "I just need some tools."

"Like these?" Jamie asked from behind him, pointing to a box of corroded wrenches and screwdrivers and various other items.

"Like those." Phillip nodded then looked back at his brother. "Hey, Jamie, you want to help me?"

"I… I'm not much of a mechanic." Jamie shook his head.

"You don't need to be." Phillip told him. "Just stay out here with me and hand me tools while Lee and Mom go and check out the house or something." He gave his mother a look and she understood that he wanted to talk to his younger brother alone.

"Come on, Lee." Amanda grabbed her husband's arm. "Let's go and see if there's anything in that house."

Lee understood as Amanda did and nodded, silently following her out of the barn.

Phillip watched them go, then whirled on Jamie. "Jamie, I'm gonna say something to you and you'd better listen." He stepped closer. "We have a good thing now, worm idiot. Lee loves Mom and he cares about us and you acting like an idiot could screw that up. Do you remember what it was like when we were little? Dad gone all the time, Mom unhappy. Do you want it to go back to that? Do you?" With each word, Phillips voice rose and became angrier.

"NO!" Jamie was trying not to cry at his brother's onslaught. "But how do we know Lee won't leave us like Dad did? How do we know he won't hurt Mom?"

"We don't." Phillip sighed. "Only I don't think he will. Look, baby brother, I'm no expert on love or nothing but I've seen the way Mom and Lee are around each other. Mom looks at him like she never looked at Dad. And Lee does the same. And you can't say Lee hasn't treated us right. You know what Mom told us. Even before we knew about him, he knew about us and looked out after us, protected us. Now you've got to cut him some slack. You've got to."

Jamie hung his head. "I'll think about it."

Inside the abandoned farmhouse, Amanda sat on the old stone hearth of the fireplace, arms wrapped around her middle, trying not to think about why her stomach was hurting or of the men she was sure were on their way, even now, to find her and her family.

Lee had walked through each of the empty rooms finding little but dust and a few odds and ends of cast off furniture. Walking back into the main room, he looked at his wife, worry for her overriding everything else for the moment. "You sure you're alright?" He asked as he sat down beside her and pulled her into his arms.

Amanda nodded as she leaned back against his strength. "Just tired and wondering about something."

"What?" Lee asked.

"Why Stone took you but he didn't take Jess." She sat up and looked at him. "Jess was found unconscious in the back of his truck. Why? He owns that land, you don't. As far as Stone knew, you were just Jess' employee and he never actually harmed any of Jess' other employees, so why did he take you?"

Lee swallowed hard, realization of what she was saying, sinking in. "You don't think…"

"I don't know, Lee. I mean you are no longer a part of the Agency, but then you've only been out of it a couple of years. It could be that Stone thinks you still have contacts or something."

Lee started to reply when he heard something outside. Getting up, he walked to the window and looked out, stifling his urge to groan.

"Hey! Over here!" A man's voice could be heard.

"Lee?" Amanda heard it.

"There's a back door that leads out to the barn." Lee whispered, ducking away from the window. "Let's go. Hurry!"

Taking Amanda's hand, Lee led them through the house and to the back exit. Once through the door, they ran to the barn, closing the planked door just as several men got to the house. "Phillip? How's that truck coming?" He whispered.

The boys noted the way they'd entered and had heard the voices outside. Each exchanged fearful glances but didn't stop what they were doing. "The wiring was messed up." Phillip answered. "But I've just about got it done. Just need to jump the solenoid and we should be out of here."

Lee led Amanda over to the truck and opened the door, helping her up into it. "Stay in the truck." He told her in a voice not to be argued with.

"Let's look in the barn." One of the voices outside called.

Lee swiftly ran around to the front of the truck just as Phillip got it started. "Get in boys." He told them. "Hurry."

Both boys climbed into the cab of the truck as Lee slammed the hood down on the old fliver and jumped into the driver's side. "Hang on and stay down." He warned as he revved the engine, and gunned the old truck through the barn door and down the driveway.

The men in the yard, startled by the sudden appearance of the old faded red truck managed to get a few missed shots off but by the time they could regroup, the Stetsons were gone.

TBC


	17. Chapter 17

**Time in the Country 17**

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With every jolt on the rutted half graveled drive, the old truck shuddered as though it was having a hard chill. But true to its reputation as a piece of tough American machinery, the old Ford held together as Lee barreled down the drive and then careened out onto the road.

Having no idea where he was, Lee had no real idea where he was going. But he knew he was now headed east and Amanda had said the town was east of where they were. He kept driving.

Sitting tight by his side, Amanda clutched her stomach but said nothing. She was in fear of what the pain could mean but she would not give in and express that fear. Nothing could be done right at the moment other than what Lee was currently doing, racing away from Stone and towards town.

Sitting beside her in the tight confines of the cab, Phillip and Jamie exchanged worried glances and more than once looked behind them. So far they saw nothing and no one coming after them but they were not reassured.

Neither was Lee. Stone and his men had been in this part of the country for a while. They would know the roads better than he would and could even then be moving into place to intercept them. But he saw little else he could do but to stay on the road and hope he could get to town before Stone and his men got to them.

However, the old Ford, tough as it was, wasn't good enough to run on dry tanks. A little further down the road it began to sputter and cough and soon it died. Lee coasted it as far as he could before finally pulling off onto a narrow dirt path. Knowing it was futile, he turned the key again anyway. The old rusted beast tried but just couldn't kick over with nothing in its fuel tanks.

"Now what do we do?" Jamie asked looking around at nothing but trees and more trees.

Lee sighed and wrenched open his door. "We walk." He said as he helped Amanda out of the cab of the truck.

"But to where?" Jamie insisted. "

"Jamie." Amanda shot her youngest son a warning look. "Lee doesn't know this area any better than we do."

"Yeah, Bozo." Phillip smirked at his brother.

"Phillip." Amanda turned her warning to her oldest. "Do not call your brother Bozo. Now, come on you guys, both of you. We've got to work together out here."

Amanda's voice, though stern, was becoming a little ragged and breathy and Lee was getting worried about her. She didn't look right to him. "Okay." He said; looking down the dirt path they had turned on to. "You boys stay here and watch out for your mom. I'm going to follow this path a little ways and see what's at the end of it."

"NO!" Amanda's voice suddenly took on strength. "We've had this discussion before, Scarecrow. We stay together."

"Yeah, Lee." Phillip spoke up. "You said so yourself."

"Yes, I did." Lee acknowledged. "But your mom doesn't look like she's in much shape to be walking."

"I am fine." Amanda avowed. "Honestly. And you are not leaving us here."

One look at her very serious brown eyes and the questioning looks on the boy's faces was all it took. "Alright. Fine. Then let's get this truck pushed a little further up so it's not so easy to spot." He said told them. "Then we'll all go."

With Amanda inside steering, Lee and the boys managed to get the old truck pushed further up the path and around a bend so it couldn't be seen from the main road.

"Alright." Lee said; when Amanda stepped out. "Let's go and see where this leads to." Wrapping an arm around Amanda's waist, he warily led the way, not sure where the road would take them.

It didn't take long for them to discover that the path wound around and took them right back to the main road.

"Well," Amanda sighed as she found a large rock and wearily sat down on it, followed by her sons. "That was fun."

"Yeah." Lee said halfheartedly as he sank to ground beside her. "But it didn't get us anywhere." He looked over at the plains of exhaustion on his wife's face and the half frightened way the boys were scanning their surroundings and felt guilty for them being in this mess. "Look guys." He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry about all of this. You all shouldn't have come after me. You should've…"

"Stayed in the car?" Jamie spoke up, giving his stepfather a classic Amanda look. "Lee, Mom's right. We all need to work together, ALL of us, including you. I may have been a pain lately…"

"May have been?" Phillip groaned, earning him a look from both his mom and brother.

"But they're right." He went on, ignoring his brother. "We couldn't have left you there. You belong with us." Jamie dropped his head when he said that last part, embarrassed to admit how wrong he'd been.

"Thank you, Jamie." Lee said softly, as he reached out and clasped the boy's shoulder. "That means more to me than you know."

"Well," Phillip got to his feet. "All this mushy stuff isn't going to get us out of here. And I don't think it's safe to stay here. Besides, it's getting late and cold."

Lee rose up next to Phillip with a nod. "I agree with you there." Looking around he could see nothing, other than the main road, that would get them anywhere and he was afraid to be caught on that road. Still, not knowing these woods, he was afraid to stray from it.

"Tell you what. We'll walk through these woods here but stay close to the road. If we see anybody coming, we can take cover in this brush without them seeing us." He looked once again at Amanda then at the boys. "Phillip, Jamie, I'm going to count on you two to lead the way while I help your mother. Deal?"

"Deal!" Both boys said in unison.

As Lee helped her back to her feet, Amanda reached up and kissed her husband. "Thank you." She whispered.

"For what?" Lee asked.

"For showing the boy's that you trust them. That means a lot to them and to me."

Lee pulled Amanda into his arms and kissed her back. "Not as much as it means to me that they trust me. Now come on."

With a smile, Amanda took Lee's hand and followed him and her sons through the woods.

TBC


	18. Chapter 18

**Time in the Country 18**

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For the next two hours, as the sun sank lower behind them, the boys scouted ahead while Lee and Amanda followed slowly behind them. Several cars had passed but they made no effort to flag them down, not sure of whom they were.

But Amanda's strength was flagging and she was seriously becoming weak and lightheaded, not to mention thirsty. "Lee," she looked up at him. "I'm not sure I can go any further."

Without a word, Lee swung her up into his arms and carried her. Amanda wanted to protest, but she didn't have the strength.

Both boys looked back to see their mother being carried by Lee and their fear ratcheted up a notch. "Phillip, I'm worried." Jamie got close to his brother and whispered.

"Me too." Phillip whispered back. "But let's not tell them. Mom doesn't look too good."

Jamie took a look back at his mom and nodded his head in agreement. "You're right. I sure hope we find something soon."

Phillip started to reply when suddenly he saw something in the distance and a smile broke out. "We did! Look." He grinned.

All heads turned to the direction Phillip was pointing and smiles broke out on all of their faces.

"OX!" Jamie said excitedly. "We've made it back to Ox! We must've circled around." But as he started towards it, Phillip suddenly grabbed his arm and hauled him back. "Hey," he protested.

"Look again, worm brain." Phillip hissed into his ear. "We're not the only ones who found it."

As Lee and Amanda made it up to stand beside the boys, they looked with dismay to see two men standing around the old white truck. One had a rifle and the other a hand gun. All heads turned to Lee.

Swiftly setting Amanda back on her feet, Lee pulled them all down into a crouch behind some thick bushes. "There's only two of them that I can see." Lee whispered. "I'm pretty sure I can take them out. But there may be others. I want you three to stay put, while I canvas the area a little. If those two are the only ones there, I'll take care of em."

"Lee?" Amanda clutched his arm; frightened brown eyes searched reassuring hazel ones.

"It'll be alright." He patted her hand. Looking over at the boys, he nodded towards Amanda. "Boys, stay here and keep guard of her. If I run into trouble, get her out of here." Pulling the gun from his pocket, Lee kissed his wife and then moved forward.

Amanda silently watched him take off in a crouch without a word.

"Mom?" Jamie whispered. "What if there's more? We can't…"

"And we're not going to." Amanda told him, ruffling his hair. "Let him get a good look around. If he spots too many to handle, he'll come back. If he doesn't, we'll go in."

Both boys nodded and turned, watching their stepfather move silently through the woods.

For several minutes, Lee hesitated just out of sight of the two men, scanning the area thoroughly. He didn't see anyone other than the two jeans clad men leaning lazily against the left side of the old truck, plaid coats pulled tightly around them. But his senses told him there was more.

Staying in a crouch, he moved further over to his right and he could see another man sitting on the ground, using the truck tire as a back rest. His legs were extended out in front of him and his sweat stained ball cap pulled low, even so, Lee knew he was awake and watchful.

"Damn" he whispered silently to himself. If he tried for the one on the right, the two on the other side would have him before he could so much as get the man's hands up. Same if he went for the other two first. Taking a deep breath, he finally decided to jump the two first, hoping some way to get them out of the way before the other one got to him.

But before he could stir, he heard a small noise behind him. Turning his head, he saw his wife and boys moving up behind him. He was, at first, irritated and wanted to send them back to safety. But he realized he needed their help. Waiting until they reached his side, he silently pointed out the men.

Handing the gun to Amanda, he pointed to the one lone man on the right. He felt the danger to her would be less with that one than the other two. With his hands splayed, he motioned to the boys to stay low, silently communicating to them the seriousness.

When he saw that Amanda was in place, gun raised and aimed directly at the man on the ground, Lee jumped to his feet and launched himself at the two on the other side. With a flying leap, he managed to get the stringy headed blond man closest to him, kicking him hard up against the truck. Thinking he'd knocked him out, he whirled around to do battle with the other one.

On the other side of the truck, the dark haired man pushed his ball cap back from his eyes at the first sound and started up, only to be met with a brunette holding a gun to his face and a deadly expression on her face. "Uh, huh." She shook her head. "Don't move."

"Look lady..."

He started to protest, but Amanda shook her head. "I said, don't move."

On the other side of the truck, Lee had just knocked the second man out when the first one came at him. Lee could hear him coming and punched villain number 2 one more time before turning to face number 1. But he got a surprise. Phillip had snuck up on the man while he'd been focused on Lee and hit him over the head with a fallen branch, he'd found nearby. Though the hit stunned the man, he was still standing when Jamie took a flying leap and threw himself on the man's back, turning him to face Lee just long enough for Lee to land one more knockout punch.

Without taking time to catch his breath, Lee practically vaulted over the hood of the old truck and grabbed the gun from Amanda just as she staggered a step backwards. "Phillip, Jamie." Lee called. The boys came around the edge of the truck just in time to catch Amanda as her eyes rolled back in her head and she slipped towards the ground.

The hood, seeing Lee's attention was diverted, made a desperate effort for the gun Lee held, but Lee was quicker. Drawing back his hand, he quickly delivered a debilitating blow to the right side of his neck. The man went down without a whimper.

Dropping to the ground beside Amanda, Lee took her hand. "Amanda? Honey?"

She didn't respond.

"Lee?" Jamie looked at Lee with fear and trust in his eyes.

Quickly, Lee picked Amanda up and put her in the truck. "Let's go," he ordered, "Get in the truck."

"What about them?' Phillip pointed at the three unconscious men.

"We'll send the police back for them."

Jumping into the truck, Lee reached for the keys but they weren't there.

"Under the mat." Jamie told him. "Mom put them under the mat."

Lee nodded with a grateful smile, pulled out the keys and started the truck, throwing it into gear and barreling off towards town, praying the whole way there.

TBC


	19. Chapter 19

**Time in the Country 19**

**Author's Note: Just wanted to thank you all for the wonderful comments I've received on this story. It's absolutely wonderful to see so many people who love Lee and Amanda as much as I do. You all are great.**

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As Lee hurtled towards town, via Phillip's directions, his mind was in a whirl. Worry and fear for Amanda were battling with the doubts about Jess that Amanda had brought up earlier. Could it be that bringing them there was all an elaborate set up in order to get him?

If so, why? He'd been out of counterintelligence for two years now. Any knowledge he had would probably be old news by now. And thanks to his less than amicable exit from the Agency they couldn't possibly think they could use him to get to anyone there.

After sorting through all the possible scenarios, Lee could come up with only one possible reason. Revenge. Without being egotistical he knew he had been one of the top operatives in the country. But that achievement hadn't been gained without making a lot of enemies. Enemies for whom time and distance from his old job, mattered not.

That of course still didn't explain how Jess was involved or what Lou Stone had to do with it. Wracking his brain, he couldn't bring to mind anyone by the name of Lou Stone and he knew he'd never met Jess before they'd come here. But glancing over at his wife, he decided, then was not the time to worry about it. Right then, she was his only concern.

They reached town well after sunset. The small little town had just about rolled it's sidewalks up for the night. All was quiet except for the local burger joint, the gas station and the doctor's office across the street. There were two police cars and a tan four door sedan sitting in the front of the clinic, whose lights were fully blazing.

Bringing the truck to a halt beside one of the county police cars, Lee jumped out and ran around to the passenger side, pulling Amanda out and hastily carrying her inside followed closely by the boys. "I need some help here." He yelled when he found no one in front.

Instantly, a short, plump little man, with round glasses, appeared around the corner and ushered him back. As Lee carried her in he was surprised to see Francine step out of a small office managing to look both concerned and ticked off at the same time.

"What happened to her?" She asked.

"I don't know." He snapped back at her. "And what are doing here? Slumming?"

"Don't fight." Amanda said weakly as he laid her down on the examining table that the little man pointed to. Looking over at Francine, she smiled graciously. "Hello, Francine. Good to see you. Lee, where's the boys. What happened? Where…"

"Hush, Amanda." Lee bent down and kissed her, grasping her hand tightly. "Everything's alright. We made it back to town and you're in the clinic. It's going to be alright. Just relax."

"Ohhhh.." She gasped as her stomach convulsed.

"Sir, please." The small round man gently moved Lee aside. "I'm Dr. Steele. Please step outside and let me examine her."

"It's okay, Lee." Amanda nodded, pulling her hand from his, when she saw he wasn't going to leave. "I'll be fine. Go talk to Francine."

"Yeah, Lee." Francine appeared beside him. "Come talk to me about Lou Stone."

Reluctantly, Lee left Amanda's side and stepped out into the hall.

"Lee?" The boys stepped up. "Mom gonna be alright?" Jamie asked, eyes bright with worry.

Lee pulled both of them to him, hugging them tightly for a moment. "Yes." He smiled down at them. "She's going to be just fine. The doctor's going to take good care of her."

Phillip looked at Francine and then the two county officers that had joined her in the hall. "They gonna arrest that man Stone?"

"Yes." Francine spoke up. "We intend to."

"Uh, look, fellas." Lee nodded towards the waiting room. "Why don't you go on in there and sit down and rest. I'm going to talk to Francine here for a few minutes and then I'll come get you. Okay?"

Both boys looked at Lee intently before sliding their gazes to Francine and the police officers. "Alright," Phillip sighed. "Come on, Jaime."

As the boys walked away, Francine grabbed Lee by the sleeve and drug him into the small office she'd set up in. "Where have you been?" She hissed. "We've had the police searching everywhere for you all."

"Well, we weren't there." Lee answered.

"Where?" Francine asked, confused.

"Everywhere." Lee answered. "We were out in the woods trying to escape Stone and his men. Which reminds me, we knocked three of them out at Stone's place so we could get the truck back. Somebody might want to go and get them."

"We?" Francine looked at him closely. "You have a mouse in your pocket?" She smirked.

"Nope, I had my wife and our sons." Lee answered proudly. "That's all I needed for those hoodlums."

Francine dropped her head to hide the smile but couldn't help but giggle. "I hate to tell you this, Scarecrow. But those _hoodlums,_ you knocked out, weren't Stone's men. They were federal agents. I put them there to wait and bring you all back into town if you should happen to come back to the truck."

"What?" Lee was shocked and a little sick at his stomach all at the same time. Then it dawned on him, Francine was there. "By the way, why are you here?"

"Lou Stone." Francine told him. "Or rather, Luigi Stonati. Billy contacted me when he learned who this man was. Remember the terrorist organization, Red February?"

Lee thought back and then immediately remembered the two Italian men that had kidnapped a girl in order to have her brother steal the Declaration of Independence for them. He also remembered the brother that was so taken with Amanda. "Yeah." He answered with disgust at the memory. "Are you telling me they have something to do with this? I thought we'd closed them down for good."

"I did too." Francine sighed. "But apparently we didn't know about one of the leaders, this Stonati. He didn't like you shutting down his organization. It took him a while to rebuild but once he did, he decided to go after you first. I'm still checking into things but it looks like this whole trip may have been a set up just to catch you."

"Un, huh." Lee shook his head. "I can't believe anyone would move into a small town like this and do the things he did just to take me down. He had to have had another reason."

"Well," Francine shrugged. "We're questioning your pal Jess as we speak. Maybe we'll find out more from him, but right now all we know is that Luigi Stonati was after you and maybe even Amanda."

Lee started to reply but was stopped when Dr. Steele tapped on the door. "Mr. Stetson, your wife would like to see you."

Instantly Lee was on his feet. "How is she?"

"She's going to be just fine." The doctor smiled at him. "But she's going to need lots of rest. Why don't you go on in and speak to her now."

Lee swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded, following the doctor back to the room Amanda was in.

She was lying quietly with her eyes closed when he walked in. Though always lovely, she looked pale and tired. "Hey, beautiful." He smiled as he bent down and kissed her. "The doctor said you're going to be alright."

Amanda nodded. "We will be." She emphasized the "we" and Lee didn't miss it though he wasn't sure what she meant.

"What do you mean "we"?" He asked.

Amanda gently took his hand and placed it on her stomach, locking her gaze with his. "I mean "we", Stetson."

Lee swallowed hard and looked down to where his hand rested and then back up at his wife. "Are you... Are you telling me…?"

Amanda nodded. "If we can keep from being chased around the country side anymore, we're going to have a baby."

Lee bent down and kissed her soundly. "You're not… I mean, we're not… I mean, we are?" His mind was swirling and he suddenly felt a little lightheaded.

Amanda nodded again with a grin. "We are."

"Oh, my God." He was stunned. "Oh, Amanda, that is the most wonderful..." Suddenly he a thought occurred to him. "Amanda, how long… I mean did you know…?"

Amanda guiltily dropped her eyes from his. "Yes. I knew before we came. Or at least I thought I knew. But until tonight, I haven't seen a doctor."

"Amanda, why not?" Lee couldn't help the sharp note of irritation as it crept into his voice. "Honey, you could've..."

"Because. I wanted things to be right, when I told you." She looked back up at him. "Lee, our business is just now taking off and we've been so busy and with the way things were with the boys and… and… Well, I figured I… I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to hide it, I just wanted things to be right."

Lee bent down and kissed her again. "Things are right, Mrs. Stetson." He grinned. "And now they're going to be even better."

TBC


	20. Chapter 20

**Time in the Country 20**

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When Lee finally left Amanda, he went immediately to find the boys. They were still in the waiting room, where he'd asked them to stay. "Hey, guys." He smiled at them when he stepped in.

"Lee, how's mom?" Jamie jumped up as soon as he entered.

"Yeah, Lee." Phillip stood up beside his brother. "Is she going to be alright?"

Lee smiled happily and nodded. "She's going to be just fine. The doctor said she just needed to rest."

"Well, what happened to her?" Jamie asked. "Why'd she pass out?"

Lee pursed his lips for a second while trying to figure out how to tell the boys everything. "Tell ya, what." He held out his hands. "Come with me and let's go see your mom. She and I will answer that together."

Exchanging puzzled looks, the boys followed Lee down the hall and to the room where their mother was.

"Mom!" Jamie ran to her side. Seeing her lying there, worried him.

"Hey, fellas." She smiled at them. "Are you guys alright?"

"Us?" Phillip questioned. "We're worried about you, Mom. Are you alright?"

Amanda nodded and opened her arms for her sons. After hugging them tightly for a moment, she released them and then looked up at her husband. "You tell them?"

Lee shook his head. "Figured that was something we should do together."

"Tell us what?" Jamie asked, fear tinting his voice. "You're going to be alright, aren't you?"

Amanda pulled him back into her arms again and kissed him on the forehead. "I am going to be just fine and in a few months, your baby brother or sister will be here and I'll be even better."

Jamie abruptly pulled back from her and shot a look at first Lee, then his mother. "A baby?"

Amanda nodded, fearing the expression on her son's face wasn't a good sign. "Are you fellas alright with that?"

"I'll say." Phillip grinned. "Mom, that's great." He reached over and kissed her on the cheek and then shook hands with Lee.

"Jamie?" Amanda asked. "What do you think?" She was almost holding her breath for fear this news would bring a return of the angry young man he'd been for the last year or so.

But Jamie surprised her. Turning to Lee, he went into his arms and hugged him and then turned and hugged his mother and kissed her. "Can I help name him?" He asked.

Amanda laughed out loud, cradling her youngest tightly to her chest. "I think so." She said.

Lee stood back beaming. This time in the country hadn't been what they'd expected and they still weren't out of the woods, literally or figuratively, but at least it had brought his family together and for that he couldn't be happier.

"Alright, guys?" He finally pulled them away. "Let's get out of here and let your mom get some rest."

"Take them and get them something to eat." Amanda advised. "They haven't eaten all day."

"Good idea, Manda." He bent down and kissed her. "Bring you anything back?"

"Just my family." She grinned.

"Deal."

Francine met them outside of Amanda's room. "How is she?" She hated to admit it, but she had a grudging respect and concern for Amanda and though she'd be loath to admit it, she actually liked her and didn't want to see anything happen to her.

"She's going to be alright." Lee smiled. He didn't tell her about the pregnancy. As with the boys, that was something he felt he and Amanda should tell everyone together. "She just needs to rest. I'm going to take the boys across the street to that burger place and get them something to eat. You want to come?"

Francine shook her head. "No. I've got your friend Jess in the back room there and he's given me some information I want to follow up on."

Lee gave her a look of disgust. "He's no friend of mine. He set me and my family up. For two cents and a half…"

"You'd do nothing, Scarecrow." Blue eyes drilled into his, challenging him to buck her. "I am in charge of this now and don't you forget it. Now, go get something to eat. But come find me when you get back."

With an irritated scowl towards the back of the building, Lee nodded. "Come on, guys. Let's go."

As Lee and the boys walked across the street, Jamie stopped suddenly and tugged at Lee's arm.

"What's wrong, Sport?" He asked, seeing the expression on the boy's face.

"I'm really sorry, I've been such a jerk." He looked down. "I... I... well, I'm glad you're part of our family."

Lee could think of nothing to say or do besides pull his youngest stepson into his arms and hug him tightly. "I am too." He finally stated. "I am too."

While Lee and the boys were gone, Francine, who'd practically turned the doctor's office into her own personal headquarters, made liberal use of his phone and fax machine. She had quite a few puzzle pieces but they made no sense. It was almost as though she had two different puzzles.

Suddenly, it hit her and she marched back into the room where Jess Richards was still being held. "Alright, Mr. Richards." Steely blue eyes let him to know she would accept nothing less than the total truth. "Let's start this again. And I want to know everything. Do you understand me?"

Jess took one look at the formidable woman in front of him and swallowed hard. So far, he'd been truthful in the answers he'd given, but he hadn't given her all the answers. But looking at the demanding presence of the woman, he knew he wouldn't be able to hide anything more from her. "Alright." He sighed. "But you've got to promise protection for me and Kathleen."

When Lee and the boys returned an hour and a half later, Francine met them at the door with a grin on her face.

"What's going on?" Lee asked; noticing the happy look she usually reserved for the conclusion of a really tough case.

"I have most of the puzzle completed." She grinned. "I just need a couple more pieces to know the whole picture."

TBC


	21. Chapter 21

**Time in the Country 21**

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While the boys sat in the waiting room, reading old magazines, Lee and Francine huddled in Amanda's room talking. Although she was supposed to be getting rest, she refused to so much as close her eyes unless they told her what was going on.

Lee agreed with her. She had been a part of this mess as well and on a need to know basis, she needed to know. Besides, he'd gotten used to having her input and insight on things. She often thought of solutions that seasoned operatives never would have.

"So our original theory about Stone or Stonati wanting that land in order to get access to that tower was right?" Amanda asked, trying to make sense of it all.

Francine nodded. "Yes, but so was your theory of him wanting to get revenge on Lee and maybe even you."

Amanda and Lee exchanged uneasy glances and Lee reached over taking her hand, squeezing it gently in reassurance.

"From what Richards told me, Stonati moved in here and started taking over several small properties as often as he could. At first, he made no threats or anything and when someone turned him down, he accepted it and moved on. Because he didn't create any problems, no suspicions were aroused when he bought property after property and no one noticed where he was buying the land."

"You mean land that surrounded Jess' place?" Lee clarified.

"Uh hum." Francine confirmed. "And that includes Richards himself. And by the way, he didn't lie about one thing. He did turn that bid in to the newspaper, before Stonati approached him. I double checked the dates. But what he didn't tell you was that when Stonati made threats, he lied to him and told him to back off because he had some private investigators coming to help him. That of course led Stonati to check into who you guys were and when he found out, he threatened not only Richards life but that of his housekeeper, Kathleen Jenkins as well, if Richards didn't help him take you. I still haven't figured out how he learned about your former Agency status but I will."

"I still don't get that." Lee shook his head. "I mean, I understand revenge. But he could've taken me out easy enough without even involving Jess." He paused when he saw the look of horror cross Amanda's face. "Sorry." He dropped his head.

"It's alright." Amanda said, swallowing the awfulness of that thought. "And I agree. But apparently he didn't want you dead. Maybe he didn't know that you weren't still with the Agency. Or maybe he thought you still had information that would be useful and figured he could get it from you."

"Those are possibilities." Francine agreed. "Of course, we won't know for certain until we catch him. When our people raided the place it was clean. Stonati and his men were already gone."

"That was awful quick, wasn't it?" Amanda asked with a frown. "I mean your people couldn't have gotten there too much after we left."

"You're right." Francine nodded; her expression troubled. "That means he got a tip that we were coming."

"Francine." Lee looked at her and then glanced at the door, where two county officers were waiting on the other side. "Who knew you were going to raid that place and when?"

Francine sat back in thought. "Well, when Billy called me about Stonati and I checked him out, I set up the raid right then and there, before I even left DC. Believe it or not, but we actually have a man down in this area. I called him and he rounded up some local cops he said he could trust…" She stopped as the realization of betrayal suddenly hit her.

"I'll kill him." She vowed; cold fury washing over her.

"Who?" Lee asked, noting the almost feral look on her face.

"Bob Abernathy." Francine said through gritted teeth. "He was assigned to this area because he'd screwed up everywhere else. I knew he was worthless but I didn't think he was on the take."

"Do you know where he's at now?" Lee asked. His own anger at the traitor showed all too clearly.

"No, but I will." Francine got up and practically ran out of the room to the office she'd been using.

"Amanda, I'll be back." Lee said as he hurried out behind her.

Amanda started to get up and follow but she was too weak. Once she got to her feet, dizziness overtook her and she was forced to lie back down. "Well," she sighed. "At least I'm not waiting in the car."

When Lee walked into the small room, he found Francine already on the phone. She glanced at him when he entered but said nothing as she silently sat with the receiver to her ear. After several moments, she slammed the phone down. "No answer." Picking it back up, she punched in another number. "Hello, Jane? It's Miss Desmond. I need you to find Bob Abernathy. I don't care if you have to use blood hounds, you find him. Alright, call me back here when you do."

"Who's Jane?" Lee asked, leaning on the door post, when she put the phone back down.

"My assistant." Francine answered, flipping through a book and then dialing another number.

"I thought your assistant was Pamela?"

Francine scowled at him as she placed the phone to her ear. "Where've you been? Pamela was four assistants ago. Oh, hello," she turned her attention back to the phone. "This is Francine Desmond. I'm in a place called Talihina, Oklahoma. I need priority-one assistance, now. NO! I will not hold. I said priority-one and I said NOW!"

Lee couldn't help but grin. When he'd left the Agency, Smyth could find no one else capable of taking over the reins other than Francine. And by all accounts, she was stellar in her job. Though tough and uncompromising at times, she always got the job done. Of course it taken a toll on her personal life but she seemed to thrive in it never the less.

When Francine finally set the phone back down, she looked over at Lee. "I have agents coming from several different areas to work on this. I have the airport watched as well as the bus station and roads and any other means of leaving this place. I also got someone to tap into Stonati's and Abernathy's bank accounts tapped. They try to get to any of their money and we'll know about it."

"Now what?" Lee asked, knowing all too well what she was going to say.

"Now, we wait. Not much else we can do."

Lee nodded, unhappy with not being able to go into action right then but knowing there was nothing else he could do. "Guess I'll go check on the boys and then sit with Amanda." He turned then stopped and looked intently his blond friend. "You find either of them, you'll let me know?"

Francine knew she shouldn't but she couldn't help herself. If it were her family that had been endangered, as his had, she would've asked the same. "I'll let you know."

Early the next morning, she nudged Lee awake. He had been sitting in a chair, his head on the side of Amanda's bed. The boys were asleep in the waiting room.

"Lee." She whispered. "Lee."

Instantly his head came up and looked blearily at her. "What? What happened?"

"Ssshh." She nodded towards a still sleeping Amanda. "Come out here." She whispered.

Getting up, Lee leaned in and kissed Amanda and then followed his friend from the room. "You find them?"

"We got Abernathy." She said quietly. "He was trying to get on a plane with a fake ID. But I sent those two county cops home, because I wasn't sure I could trust them. That means I'll have to go and pick him up. Wondering if you'd like to be my back up."

Lee didn't have to think twice. "Let me tell Amanda and the boys."

TBC


	22. Chapter 22

**Time in the Country 22**

**Author's note: Guest, you are absolutely correct about Lee. The Agency will always be a part of him, whether he still works there or not.**

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Amanda paced pensively around the large living room, at Jess Richard's ranch, wondering what was going on. Lee had told her that he was going with Francine to question Bob Abernathy, who'd been found at the airport. But that had been three hours ago and still she'd heard nothing.

The boys were out in the barn with a new colt that'd been born recently and she was glad for that. Despite everything, they were still on vacation and she wanted her sons to have at least a little fun.

"Mrs. Stetson." Kathleen came in carrying a tray with tea and cookies. "Wearing a hole in the floor ain't gonna help you. You mind what I say. You need to just sit down and rest. There ain't nothing you can do and you know what the doctor told you."

Amanda nodded. When the doctor had released her, he had told her to rest and warned her not to get upset or excited and no more cross country treks. But he never said she couldn't be worried, and she was worried plenty. "I just wish we'd heard something by now." She sighed and finally claimed a seat on the couch.

"I know." Kathleen dropped her head, sinking down onto the couch beside her. "I wish…" She didn't finish the thought but Amanda understood.

"Kathleen, you aren't responsible for what Jess did." She placed a sympathetic hand on the older woman's arm.

Kathleen sniffled back a tear and nodded. "I know it. But he done what he did for me so that kinda makes it my fault, the way I see it. And now he's in jail and I don't know what's gonna happen and…"

Amanda reached over and pulled the housekeeper into a hug. "You really do care about him, don't you?"

"Yes," Kathleen sniffled. "I have for a long time. I never dreamed he had no feelings for me though. But he shouldn't a done what he did. He just shouldn't'a, that's all."

Amanda thought about Lee, and knew he'd probably do the same for her if it came to it. As a matter of fact, he already had. "Tell you what." She pulled back and looked at Kathleen. "I'll talk to Lee and Miss Desmond and see if we can't arrange some kind of leniency for him. I don't know how much sway we might have, but we can try. I know what it's like to love someone and worry about them."

Lee Stetson knew what that was like as well. And as he rode with Francine to the airport, he was doing just that. He had a feeling; catching Abernathy wasn't going to end things and he worried about Amanda and his kids. All three of them.

When they arrived at the airport, Francine pulled out her official federal credentials and she and Lee were shown into a small conference room where Bob Abernathy was pensively sitting at a small table, a cold cup of coffee on the counter in front of him.

"Uh, hello… Francine. Lee, good to see ya." He greeted them hesitantly; afraid they would go for his throat at any minute.

"Don't 'hello' me." Francine practically snarled at him as she moved in close on his left side. Lee moved in on his right getting as close if not closer than Francine. "I want answers, Abernathy." She snapped at him. "And I'd better get them now."

Bob Abernathy, never the bravest or even the cleverest of agents swallowed hard and looked up at the two angry faces flanking him. "Uh… answers?" His voice squeaked.

Lee reached down and grabbed him by the collar. "Answers." He breathed heavily in his face. "Or you don't walk out of here. Do you understand?"

A few minutes later, Lee ran from the office, jumped into Francine's rental car and roared off for the ranch while Francine wet a papertowel with cold water and handed it to Abernathy to put on his rapidly swelling eye. "He let you off easy." She told him, when he complained about the cold cloth. "Just think about what I'm going to do to you."

Abernathy swallowed hard and sank further down in his chair, having had just revealed that Stonati knew Amanda had returned to the ranch and was probably going for her, since he hadn't been able to keep Lee.

The ranch was quiet when Lee got there. Too quiet. Though Jess' employees had not returned to the ranch, he knew there should still be some signs of life and the lack of it, scared him. Parking the sedan near the road, he got out and made his way quietly down to the house. He saw no one outside, but his instincts told him something was wrong.

Skirting the front, he passed around to the back and looked in through the rear kitchen windows. Amanda, Mrs. Jenkins and the boys were sitting stiffly at the kitchen table. None of them looked comfortable.

At first, Lee was confused by their posture and expressions, until the man stepped into view. A man Lee didn't recognize but didn't need to in order to know who he was.

Stonati grinned as he bent close to Amanda and stroked the side of her face with his left hand. Lee understood exactly what was going on without being able to hear a word being said.

With his back was to the window, Stonati didn't know Lee was outside, as he bent down towards Amanda, his left hand gently tracing the contours of her face. "You are beautiful woman." He grinned. "You tell me where your husband is; maybe I take you with me and not kill you."

"Leave her alone." Jamie snapped at him.

"Yeah, Bozo." Phillip joined the protest. "Keep your hands off our mom."

"Boys," Amanda warned them. She didn't want her sons hurt. Besides, she'd seen Lee outside of the window. "It's alright."

Stonati glared at them and raised his gun. "Maybe I shoot them. Huh."

"Maybe, not." Lee said from directly behind him. Stonati stiffened and whirled around, fist raised.

Throwing an arm up, Lee blocked his aim and landed a swift punch to his midsection. But Stonati wasn't fazed. Quickly he rebounded and landed a blow of his own.

Lee was so focused on his fight with Stonati, that he hadn't seen the other two men who entered soon after he did. Both of them reached inside their jackets for guns, but they never got that far.

Thinking quickly, Amanda swiftly left her chair and picked it up, swinging it at the man closest to her. When he stumbled, Jamie landed on his back, followed by Phillip.

Mrs. Jenkins, jumping from her chair, grabbed the meat mallet laying on the kitchen counter and hit the other one on the head. He slumped to the ground quickly.

Meanwhile, Lee and Stonati were still going after it. Lee finally got him on the floor and with two hard punches knocked him senseless. But his battle wasn't over just yet.

Just as he looked up, he saw the man, that the boys and Amanda had clobbered, had managed to gain his feet and although the two boys were still on him, he was slowly making his way towards Amanda, backing her into a corner.

"Hey!" Lee yelled as he grabbed the man and landed a blow to his chin.

With a slight look of confusion, the man's eyes rolled back into his head and fell face forward to the floor, aided by the boys weight.

Lee immediately went to Amanda and pulled her into his arms. "You okay? You alright?" He asked frantically.

Amanda smiled and hugged him tightly. "I am now."

Lee smiled gratefully and looked around at the three unconscious men and his family. "You know," he grinned. "We don't make too bad a team."

"Yeah!" The boys answered excitedly. "We're the best!"

Lee held out his arms for them and they came into his embrace, he nodded. "Yes, we are."

TBC


	23. Chapter 23

**Time in the Country Conclusion**

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Lee sat back in his plane seat and looked over at his sleeping wife and then across at his sons. Over the course of just a few days, he realized, he no longer thought of them as his step-sons. Although, he would never try to take Joe's place in their lives, he knew that now, he had a special connection to them that would rival that of any man and his biological children.

Thinking of that, his eyes darted to Amanda's stomach. Cradled in there was his soon to be biological child and he couldn't hardly wait until it was born.

"What are you thinking about, Scarecrow?" Amanda asked, as she sat up a little and looked quizzically over at him.

"I thought you were asleep." He reached over and kissed her.

"No," she sighed. "I've got too much on my mind."

"You mean everything that happened?"

Amanda nodded. "I keep thinking about Bob Abernathy. I still find it hard to believe that he would turn traitor after all those years as an Agent."

Lee shrugged. "Well, he's felt kinda slighted for a long time now. When Billy retired, he thought he'd be in line for his job. He didn't like it that Smyth put me in there. And when I quit, he once again was sure he'd get it but instead it went to Francine and it made him really mad. And then he was furious when he was sent to Oklahoma and out of the Washington limelight. When Stonati approached him, he was more than ready to sell out."

"Stonati." Amanda said the name in disgust. "I'm glad he and his men aren't going to get away with what they did. Of course, I do have to admit. His plans were pretty ingenious. I mean, buying all those properties around that high on Jess' land so that he could get close enough to gain access to a government tower and it's signals. Of course, I still don't know how he planned to do that."

"Well, Stonati knew that he wouldn't be able to gain physical access. But he did have some technology that could monitor any transmissions from that tower and basically collect any information it was used for. Of course he was gambling a bit on what type of information it would transmit. He was hoping it was well worth what he was doing in order to steal it."

"Well," Amanda sighed, "thanks to you, he won't be stealing anything for a long time."

"You mean, thanks to us." He corrected her. "You, me and the boys stopped him together. He and his men are going to spend a lot of time behind bars, as will Abernathy. And, we have the added bonus of saving Jess from losing his property or worse."

Amanda nodded. "I'm glad Francine was able to help keep Jess out of jail with probation and that he won't lose his ranch or anything but I'm still a little sore at him for setting you up the way he did. He knew Stonati was waiting up on that ridge for you."

"Yeah," Lee nodded. "But if you remember, he didn't come out of it unscathed. If his neighbor hadn't of found him when he did, he might've died up there. Stonati had no more use for him after that and planned for him to die too. Besides, before we left, I heard Kathleen giving him heck for his part in all of this. He's not getting off easy."

Amanda chuckled thinking of the short chubby little woman who in just a few days had become a dear friend. "No, I guess you're right about that. I have a feeling from now on; he's going to be on the straight and narrow."

Lee grinned. "Yeah, I think you're right about that. But I saw the way he was looking at her. He won't mind behaving as long as she stays with him."

Amanda reached over and took his hand. "She will. She loves him. You never leave the ones you love, if you can help it."

Lee inclined his head and kissed her. "Very true, Mrs. Stetson."

"Mom?" Jamie called from across the aisle.

Amanda looked over. "What, Jamie?"

"You two aren't going to do that all the way back home are you?"

Lee and Amanda both laughed. "We might." Lee teased.

"Gross." He groaned and turned his head away.

"Wait til' he gets his own girl." Lee grinned. "He won't think it's so gross then."

"He already has a girl." Phillip smirked at his younger brother. "Only he doesn't know what to do with her."

"Phillip!" Jamie reached over and slapped his brother's arm. "You ever hear of keeping your mouth shut? Besides, Gloria and me are just friends."

"Oh, right." Phillip taunted. "That why you keep her picture on your dresser?'

"Phillip, you'd better shut up." Jamie warned as his face reddened with anger.

"Boys." Amanda arched a slender brow at both of her boys and without more being said, they settled back against their seats with only the occasional glare at each other as a sign that the war wasn't over, yet.

Lee watched the boys and then reached over, placing his hand on Amanda's stomach. "Maybe this one will be a girl." He smiled. "And we won't have to worry about things like that."

Amanda giggled. "If it's a girl, we'll have to worry even more. Not all boys are brought up right, like my boys were."

Lee stiffened at that thought. "Any boy lays a hand on my girl, and they'll have to answer to me." He said tightly.

Amanda's giggle turned to a full-fledged laugh, causing several people to look her way. "This could be a boy, you know."

Lee shrugged. "True. But they'd better never touch my boy either, any of my boys." He looked pointedly over at Phillip and Jamie and Amanda's laughter died but her smile remained. "You are a special man, Lee Stetson."

Lee shook his head. "Nah, just lucky that I found a very special woman to be my partner, in everything."

Amanda snuck a look over her sons, but they'd finally gotten interested in the books they'd brought with them and weren't paying attention. Looking back at Lee, she pulled him to her and kissed him deeply. "Well, then, here's to partners."

The End


End file.
